Fishermen start year with bumper catch

Fishermen in central Việt Nam netted a bumper catch during the first days of the Lunar Year of Rooster, earning them profits due to high market prices. — Photo thuysantoancau.com

HÀ NỘI — Fishermen in central Việt Nam netted a bumper catch during the first days of the Lunar Year of Rooster, earning them profits due to high market prices.

This year, fish appeared in large quantities due to warm weather, according to local fishermen. With favourable weather, dozens of fishing boats in the central province of Quảng Trị went out on their first trip of the new lunar year and returned laden with fish.

“We’re surprised by the large amount of khoai (Harpadon nehereus). Everybody is happy as we hadn’t caught this kind of fish since the environmental accident in April last year and its sales have returned to normal, said Hoàng Văn Phiến, a fisherman from Gio Linh District.

Hồ Đức Nam, another local resident, said he caught about 50kg every day and reaped a profit of VNĐ2.5 million (US$110), adding that a kilogram of khoai was sold at between VNĐ50,000-70,000 ($2.2-3).

For local fishermen, a safe and smooth fishing trip at the start of the lunar year augurs a profitable year.

Local resident Nguyễn Văn Hòa said that besides weather condition, choosing the date of new year fishing trips also plays a vital role. The second and fourth days of the year are most often selected by boat owners as lucky days for their first fishing trips.

Many of them have caught between 400-500 kilograme of fish in the first three days fishing, enjoying a profit of about VNĐ30 million ($1,325).

Phạm Văn Liệu, chairman of Hải Ninh Commune People’s Committee in central Quảng Bình Province’s Quảng Ninh District, said hundreds of boats had headed to the sea since the second day of Tết (January 29) and some returned to shore with catch of up to 300kg.

In the central province of Hà Tĩnh, the Cồn Gò fish market of Cẩm Nhượng Commune was crowded with fishermen and traders buying and selling seafood. Trần Quang Hợi, a local fisherman, said as the price of ruốc (a kind of shrimp or Sergestidae) increased 1.5 times to VNĐ30,000-35,000 per kilo, each fisherman could rake in VNĐ10 million ($442) a trip.

Hợi said that he and his three brothers together made VNĐ60 million ($2,650) in profit during the first five days of the lunar new year.

The bustling atmosphere was also recorded in the fishing ports of Nghệ An Province.

“My first fishing trips met with favourable conditions,” Nguyễn Văn An, a fisherman told Chinhphu.vn while transporting packages of ruốc to traders. He said he fetched nearly one tonne on the fourth day of the new year and over 500kg on the following day.

After deducting all expenses, his family earned over VNĐ10 million ($442) each trip.

“The abundance of shrimp and fish in the sea in the first day of the year has brought optimistic outcomes for local fishermen whose lives cling to the sea,” An said. — VNS