Offshore fishing boats dock at the Mỹ Tân Fishing Port in Ninh Thuận Province’s Ninh Hải District. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thành

NINH THUẬN — The south-central province of Ninh Thuận is commissioning new fishing boats and installing modern facilities on them to improve fishing efficiency and protect resources.

Đặng Văn Tín, head of the province Fisheries Sub-department, said fishing is closely monitored, including for implementation of fishing regulations and origin traceability.

The province is prioritising the installation of black boxes on fishing boats with a length of at least 15 metres, he said.

So far they have been installed on 708 of 774 such boats, according to the sub-department, and the rest are being sold or cannot go fishing due to losses or repairs, he said.

The sub-department is carrying out advocacy activities for fishermen to know about regulations for fisheries exploitation and protection of resources.

Development

The province is also restructuring the fishing sector to improve efficiency, focusing on developing offshore groups.

Offshore groups enable boats to stay longer at sea and increase their catch, and help each other when there are accidents or natural disasters at sea.

The province is developing its offshore fleet by enabling fishermen to upgrade boats and build new high-capacity ones, and helping boat owners install modern fishing equipment and train fishermen in fishing techniques.

Under the Government’s Decree 67 on fisheries development policies issued in 2014 and Decree 89 issued in 2015 that amended and supplemented Decree 67, fishermen have been given soft loans to build high-capacity boats for offshore fishing.

Đào Nhật Định, a boat owner in Ninh Hải District’s Thanh Hải Commune, said he built a composite-hull fishing boat in 2018 with an 829 CV engine and a length of 24 metres using a loan.

It cost VNĐ13 billion (US$561,000), he said.

With modern fishing equipment, a boat could catch dozens of tonnes of seafood per trip, he said.

He earns more than VNĐ2 billion ($86,500) a year, and has repaid his loan, which along with interest had topped VNĐ2.5 billion, he said.

Đào Quốc Thắng, chairman of the coastal Thanh Hải Commune People’s Committee, said the fishing potential had not been exploited previously.

But the Government’s maritime economy development policies, especially Decree 67, have helped develop fishing rapidly, he said.

The commune now has 12 boats with a length of 24 metres built because of the decree, he said.

The boats’ owners go fishing offshore and earn an average of VNĐ900 million - 1 billion ($38,800-43,000) a year, he said.

“[The incomes] are due to the fishing boats being equipped with modern engines and fishing facilities and techniques.”

The province has approved loans worth VNĐ490 billion ($21.2 million) to upgrade or build 43 boats.

Nguyễn Khắc Lâm, deputy director of the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Decrees 67 and 89 have helped change local fishing.

The province now has its first boats with steel and composite hulls, modern fishing facilities and engines of more than 800 CV, and more than 20 metres long, he said.

To further improve the efficiency of large boats, the department has instructed the sub-department to make proper fishing plans, train captains and chief engineers of fishing boats, teach fishermen the latest fishing techniques, and assess resources in fishing grounds to ensure there is no overfishing, he added.

Ninh Thuận has a coastline of 105 kilometres and 2,224 boats that fish near shore and offshore.

Last year its fishermen’s total catch exceeded 100,000 tonnes worth VNĐ7.4 trillion ($320 million), according to the sub-department. — VNS