The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has recently released documents to direct authorities in 4 central provinces to support fishermen in trawling, farming fish, and producing salt. Talking about next steps in support of local fishermen, a representative from the Directorate of Fisheries confirmed that the agency has a project to restore production and support fishermen to switch vocations.
"There are about 16 thousand fishing vessels in the 4 central coastal provinces. However about 12 thousands are low capacity. During the time when the environment was most damaged, most of these vessels didn’t work. There was obviously a decline in fish due to the toxic waste. We’ll ask the government to further support fishermen with preferential loans or help them to transfer jobs if they want to", said Nguyen Ngoc Oai - Deputy Head, Directorate of Fisheries of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in co-operation with authorities from the 4 central coastal provinces will hold a conference in Thừa Thiên Huế Province to review support policies and canvass fishing communities for their opinions to work out the best community development strategies. By September 10th a report on the losses incurred by fishing crews will be submitted to the prime minister. The planned issue of the Formosa compensation money will be based on the report.
