Old workers go to sea alone
While anchoring a 24CV fishing boat at the Cua Sot boat and boat mooring area, Loc Ha commune, the veteran fisherman Nguyen Van Dung (62 years old, residing in Long Hai village, Loc Ha commune) - said that because he could not recruit crew members, he had to go fishing alone for a long time, only occasionally on weekends when his son was in high school to go on a few trips with him.
My boat should have had 3 workers for each trip to sea. Because I couldn't recruit anyone, I had to go to sea alone, I was also sad, tired and reduced the effectiveness of fishing," Mr. Dung shared.
Mr. Dung's family has 9 children, including 5 sons. However, the three eldest sons are all working abroad, while the two youngest sons are students. Mr. Dung determined that after all, no one of his children followed the sea route.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (60 years old, residing in Xuan Phuong village, Loc Ha commune), owner of a 250 CV fishing boat - said that her family also lacks workers to go to sea and cannot recruit them.
"My boat normally needs 10 workers to go to sea. However, for a long time, each trip at sea has only been with 6 people. Of which, the 4 people are brothers, Ms. Thanh shared.
According to Ms. Thanh, a shortage of workers going to sea is a common problem, a difficult problem for many fishing boat owners. The reason is that the marine industry is hard, dangerous, unstable, and has unstable income, so many people find other jobs or go abroad to work.
Difficult problem
Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Chairman of the Thach Kim Fisheries Union (Loc Ha commune) - said that the shortage of workers going to sea has been happening for many years and is getting worse. Therefore, currently the sea-based labor force is mainly middle-aged and elderly people. While the younger generation mostly go abroad to work and work as factory workers.
According to Mr. Nam, the reason for the lack of labor is because the sea travel profession is hard, dangerous and has unstable income. While going abroad to work, I have a much better income. Therefore, local children grow up mainly to work abroad.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Chairman of Cam Nhuong Fisheries Union (Tien Cam commune) - said that in Thien Cam commune, the shortage of workers going to sea has been happening for many years.
Currently, most of the workers going to sea are elderly or middle-aged, while young people mainly work as workers and go abroad to work.
Mr. Thanh also said that because the marine profession is hard, dangerous, and has unstable incomes, it is no longer possible to attract young people to follow the profession. Meanwhile, industry is developing, many factories create large jobs. In particular, there is also a diverse labor export market, providing good income, so it attracts all young workers.
"It is really difficult to deal with the shortage of workers going to sea without any feasible solutions," Mr. Thanh acknowledged.
