A fisherman from central Ninh Thuan Province, Nguyen Van Thu, said he had recently regained a stable income since he shifted from fishing to trading with fishermen at ocean fishing grounds.
Thu from Ninh Phuoc District said he lost money on most of his previous fishing trips because of rising material and fuel costs.
Many fishermen in the provinces of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan have changed to selling fuel, food and water and buying fish from boats that stayed at sea for long periods.
The trade, which the fishermen call mobile floating sea markets, is both profitable for traders and has reduced industry costs.
“My job is not any easier than fishing; I have to make more trips to the fishing grounds, which can be 24 nautical miles to hundreds of miles off the coast,” Thu said.
Nguyen Pham Luu Hien, head of the Dong Hai Seaport Management Board in Ninh Thuan Province, said ten boats that offer the service dock at the port everyday.
“The boats are often loaded with 15 to 22 tons of different fish,” he said.
Tran Van Hien, one of the pioneers of the trading service from Binh Thuan Province, said he had launched six boats in the business since 2000.
Hien said he sold fuel and ice and bought catches fresh from the fishing boats.
According to Hien, he bought cuttlefish for VND80,000-90,000 per kilogram, and squid at VND100,000 per kilo at sea.
“Both kinds used to sell at around VND60,000 (US$3.6) because they would deteriorate in poor refrigeration,” he said.
Hien said with modern freezers, his boats could store the fish in good condition and carry them home much sooner than previously, adding that he was considering setting up his boats as package processors to further enhance quality and freshness.
“We often contact the trading boats to come and buy right after each big catch,” said fisherman Nguyen Huu Hoang from My Tan fishing village in the province.
“We used to have to return to port every three days to refuel, no matter what we had caught. It caused a lot of losses.” Another fisherman said he could save nearly VND5 million ($302) on each fishing trip.
The Binh Thuan Branch of Cooperative Economy, under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the new trade increased the quality of fish and reduced the use of chemicals needed to store them.
The branch said, however, traders were only buying fish for export.
Reported by Que Ha–Thien Nhan |
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