Costs increase, fishing grounds have few fish

Cost increased by VND 40 - 50 million per trip

In the last days of 2021, many fishing boats fishing offshore in Khanh Hoa province, in turn, returned to Hon Ro port, Phuoc Dong commune, Nha Trang city after more than 20 days at sea fishing specialized in tuna fishing such as fishermen. Truong Sa fish ground, DK 1 rig house...

According to ship owners, this is the main season for tuna fishing, which is also the business season for ship owners. However, on the first trips to the sea, the fishing boats returned did not reach the desired output compared to previous years. There are even ships that can only catch a few kilos of fish and lose money.

Fisherman Le Van Dung (in Xuong Huan Ward, Nha Trang city) said that his family has 6 boats specializing in catching tuna. In which, 3 ships have just landed at the port to catch the output from 1.8 to over 2 tons. The remaining 2 boats caught from 1.2 to 1.4 tonnes. The boat owned by Mr. Dung caught only 3 quintals.

For fishing vessels that achieve output, with the current price of tuna about VND 130,000 per kilogram, after sharing half the profit to the shipowner, each worker earns from VND 10 to VND 15 million. The other two boats catch from 1.2 to 1.4 tonnes, after deducting expenses, the profit is not much.

The reason is that since the Covid-19 epidemic, all costs for the trip have increased. The price of oil has risen to over VND 19,000 per liter, causing the cost of the sea voyage to increase from VND 100 to VND 120 million, while before it was only VND 70 to VND 80 million. Therefore, for Mr. Dung's ship, this trip was a heavy loss.

“A few years ago this month, the ships caught a large amount of ocean tuna. My boat catches 40 - 50 heads (equivalent to 2.5 to 3 tonnes), sometimes up to 70 - 80 heads. But now, the last two sea trips I see that the fishing grounds seem to have few fish.

The fishing boats do not have much output, most of them are from 10 to 20 heads of fish. It's rare for a ship to catch 30-40 heads or more," said fisherman Dung. He hopes that next time he goes to the sea, he will be lucky to catch more fish to earn an income and stabilize his life.

The ship KH 94356 TS of fisherman Tran Van Dai is one of the lucky ships that caught 40 ocean tuna with an output of about 1.5 tonnes. After deducting costs, the shipowner pocketed VND 50 million VND, and the remaining 5 crew members were about 10 million VND each.

His group has 5 ships, all in Hon Ro, together in the tuna fishing grounds, but only 2 boats can catch 30-40 heads, there are very few. The remaining boats can only catch from 7 to more than 10 tunas, so they are at a loss.

“In the last two years, tuna catches have been decreasing. The fishery is seeing less and less fish, not as abundant as it was a few years ago. Fortunately, the last two sea trips my ship made a bit of profit", said Mr. Dai.

Shipowners face many difficulties

Currently, striped tuna fishing vessels are also docking at the port, with an average output of 9-12 tonnes per trip, 2-3 tonnes higher than previous seagoing trips. However, due to the sharp increase in the cost of the voyage (lasting more than 20 days), ranging from VND 250-270 million per trip, plus the low quality of fish preservation, the ships were not profitable.

Fisherman Duong Van Quy, representative of the ship KH 97661 TS (In Vinh Phuoc ward, Nha Trang city) said that his family's ship cost for this trip was very high, up to VND 270 million.

For ships to reach the sea, each voyage needs 11-12 workers per ship. When getting off the boat, the shipowner must give each person an advance of VND 5-7 million. This is a must because otherwise, the crew will go to another ship. Therefore, if the fishing trip is not favorable, all costs will be borne by the shipowner.

“Shipowners now face many difficulties. A fishing boat with a turnover of VND 350 million or more may only make a small profit for the owner of the new ship", Mr. Quy said.

Like Mr. Quy's ship, the ship KH 93377 TS of fisherman Huynh Van Cam in Vinh Phuoc ward, this trip cost over VND 250 million.

The ship reached an output of 10 tons of striped tuna. Currently, the price of purchased fish ranges from VND 20,000-50,000 per kilogram, depending on the type. However, due to low-quality preserved fish, most of the fish caught, Mr. Cam sells for only VND 20,000-30,000 per kilogram.

Mr. Cam said that after selling fish, the revenue is only enough to pay for hiring labor to go to the sea, but the shipowner is not profitable. Since the Covid-19 epidemic until now, it is very difficult to find seafarers.

This year, the fishing boat stayed ashore for up to 3 months due to the impact of the disease and has only returned to the sea for 2 months now. Meanwhile, the current situation of fishing grounds is also low, so this trip has to take nearly a month to arrive at the port. But at this time, the fishing grounds have very few striped tuna.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, Deputy Director of Hon Ro fishing port management board, said that this time is the tuna fishing season, so the ships docked at the port with an output of 9-12 tonnes, while a few months ago it was only 5-7 tonnes.

Besides the low catch, the fish preservation stage is not good, the fishermen sell at low prices, so they don't make much profit compared to a few months ago.