Anchovies appear early, which predicts that the fishing ground for seafood exploitation in Ha Tinh will be very abundant in 2023. Picture: TN.
Arriving at the beginning of the New Year, Ha Tinh fishermen get excited when every boat is full of shrimp and fish.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, in charge of the Fisheries Management Department (Ha Tinh Fisheries Sub-department), said that in the early days of the Year of the Rabbit, the weather in Ha Tinh was relatively favorable and the fishing grounds were plentiful with crabs, fish, especially fish, is the early appearance of anchovies – fish that feed other valuable seafood species such as cod, mackerel, etc.
“It is estimated that from January 31 (January 10) to now, Ha Tinh fishermen have exploited 3,000 tons of seafood and earned about VND160 billion. The biggest winners are the catches of anchovy, croak, pit fish, crab…” said Mr. Hung.
For the past 5 days, almost every day, Mr. Le Xuan Tien’s boat (60 years old), a resident of Cam Nhuong Township, Cam Xuyen District, returned to shore, and it was also full of fish in the compartment.
Mr. Tien’s boat was fishing in the lowlands about 6-7 nautical miles from shore. Normally his 115 CV boat goes out to sea every day at 2am with a total of 10 workers. The boat docked in the early afternoon of the same day.
In the last 5 days, Tien’s boat caught about 10 tons of Quaker and earned nearly VND400 million. Picture: Huong Thanh.
According to statistics from the People’s Committee of Cam Nhuong Township, Cam Xuyen District, the entire township currently has more than 250 ships and boats of all kinds, 87 of which are fishing near the coast. In the first 40 days of 2023, the municipality’s fishermen caught more than 100 tons of aquatic products and seafood of all kinds, a 30% increase over the same period last year.
“Our fish was bought by traders on the quay that day. In the last 5 days my boat has been hit by many sharks. The estimated production is about 10 tons, which are sold at prices ranging from VND 20,000 to VND 60,000/kg depending on the species of the big and small fish, bringing in nearly VND 400 million. After expenses are deducted, each crew member has an income of 15-20 million dongs,” Mr. Tien said excitedly.
According to fishermen with almost 40 years of experience in the sea, in addition to luck, it takes experience and detectors to catch such fish. Spotting a large stream of fish, Mr. Tien steered a boat to block their passage and then dropped a 300m net to surround it and form an arch. With a catch of 3-4 tons, the fishermen had to pull together for an hour to bring up the net and fill the cavity.
“Every fisherman has been connected to the sea for decades, so he never gets tired. At the beginning of spring, we caught so much, we were very excited,” Mr. Tien said.
Mr. Nguyen Van Be’s fishing boat, Xuan Lien Township, Nghi Xuan District shares the same joy and also collects many batches of fresh and firm crabs these days. According to Mr. Be, crabs appeared early and plentifully this year, so the exploitation was very convenient.
Traders come to the quay to buy fish for the fishermen. Picture: Huong Thanh.
In order to protect the fishing grounds, Xuan Lien fishing community agrees not to use small mesh and electric shock, especially small seafood will be released back into the sea for further treatment after the nets are pulled up, to continue to reproduce and develop.
It is known that the total number of registered fishing boats in Ha Tinh Province is 2,957 units, of which vessels operating on the high seas and high seas (12m or more in length) have 617 units engaged in fishing, Hooves and nets are employed, etc. Fins, cages, squid fishing and is the fleet that accounts for most of the province’s fishing output and value. The remainder accounted for more than 80% of coastal marine activity.