Why is the North wind season a difficult season for sea fishing in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, causing squid fishing to fail?

The North Wind season brings many storms and rains, while seafood prices drop during the low tourist season, so many fishermen in Ba Ria-Vung Tau have to keep their boats on shore. The aquaculture sector is also struggling to cope with adverse weather fluctuations.

Fishermen lose their crops

For over a month now, during the strong North wind season, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khuong (Binh Chau commune, Xuyen Moc district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province) has had to keep his fishing boat ashore to avoid the wind, and his family has no income.

“Squid fishing in Binh Chau has been down for the past few years, not as good as before, fishermen are always losing money. During this time of the year, the boats can only stay ashore until Tet, and can only go to sea again after the new year,” Mr. Khuong shared.

Most of the small boats and ships at Ben Loi - Binh Chau port choose to stay ashore when the North wind season comes. According to the representative of Ben Loi - Binh Chau Fishing Port Management Board, Binh Chau has about 750 fishing boats, but for more than a month now, 70% of the boats have stayed ashore to avoid the wind, most of them are small boats under 15m.

Some large ships can still go to sea but must move to the Western region - Kien Giang to avoid the wind.

In addition, from now until Lunar New Year is the low season with few tourists, seafood prices have dropped sharply, so sea trips do not bring much profit, even losses.

Mr. Tran May (Binh Chau commune, Xuyen Moc district), has 2 fishing boats over 15m, 400CV capacity, fishing offshore with gill nets, just went back to sea after 4 days of staying ashore to avoid the storm, said that this year's fishing was very unsuccessful, especially in the last few months of the year, the North wind season.

Before each 20-day trip, the boat caught about 3-4 tons of various types of fish, but now it only catches 1.2-1.5 tons, and the selling price of fish has decreased by 10-20 thousand VND/kg depending on the type, so income has decreased by more than 50%.

“These past few days, there have been storms and rough seas, boats and ships cannot go to sea, the price of fish has increased a little but it has not helped,” said Mr. May.

Low season, North wind, seafood output decreased sharply, fishermen lost revenue. In the photo: Seafood just arrived at Tan Phuoc port (Long Dien district, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province).

Similarly, in Vung Tau City, many fishing boats also suffered heavy losses. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ngoc (Ward 2, Vung Tau City) said that this year fishermen have had a very bad year at sea. Output has dropped by more than 50%, while fish prices have dropped by 20% compared to previous years.

“On a 2-month sea trip, each ship can only catch about 1.5 tons of mackerel and 10 tons of tuna on average, while in the past it was double that. The output has also been narrowed, and we cannot export, so the price has also decreased by 20%. One kilogram of mackerel sold at sea is currently only 100,000-110,000 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, each ship I take loses 200 million VND. With 6 sea trips a year, the total loss is more than 1 billion VND,” said Mr. Ngoc.

Aquaculture is at a disadvantage

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the development of storms, floods, cold air and heavy rain from now until the end of the year is still complicated. The weather in the South will have unseasonal rains with widespread thunderstorms lasting for a few days, with some places experiencing moderate to heavy rain. There is a possibility of tropical depressions and storms in the southern East Sea.

Dangerous weather conditions at sea are still likely to cause strong winds and large waves, affecting the activities of ships. Currently, the East Sea area will continue to have scattered showers and thunderstorms in the next few days, with strong northeast winds of level 6-7, gusting to level 8-9. The sea will be rough, with waves 3-6m high depending on the location.

The provincial agricultural sector, in coordination with localities, border guards, and fishing ports, has proactively developed storm prevention plans, informed fishermen of the location, direction, and developments of the storm, and directed boats to storm shelters to ensure the lives and property of fishermen.

Due to complicated weather, sudden temperature changes between day and night, especially the cold air increasing in the last months of the year, causing some aquaculture households, shrimp and fish to get sick, slow growth, and reduced productivity and output.

To protect farmed shrimp from disease and ensure the yield of the Tet harvest, Mr. Phan Duc Dat (An Hai hamlet, Loc An commune, Dat Do district, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province) has strengthened preventive measures such as: carefully treating the input water source through the settling pond system and disinfecting the pond, raising at a low density in the greenhouse system to reduce the amount of rain falling into the pond, keeping the temperature stable, with little difference between day and night, avoiding heat shock for the shrimp. "In addition, I also increase vitamins in the feed to increase the resistance of the shrimp," Mr. Dat shared.

The provincial Department of Fisheries recommends that farmers repair dykes and cages to ensure water retention and proactively drain water when water levels rise, clear trees and branches, and clean up around the dyke to avoid branches, leaves, impurities, and bacteria falling into the pond and polluting the pond.

Farmers also need to proactively stock up on lime, biological products, and probiotics to treat the water environment, and supplement digestive enzymes and minerals in the diet to increase resistance for shrimp and fish. At the same time, regularly monitor and check environmental factors such as pH, temperature, alkalinity, salinity, clarity, etc. to have appropriate adjustments.

Source: https://danviet.vn/vi-sao-mua-gio-bac-la-mua-chat-vat-cua-nghe-danh-ca-bien-o-ba-ria-vung-tau-cau-muc-that-thu-20241221225147263.htm