Long sea trips, stable income
These days, Tran De fishing port (Tran De commune, Can Tho city) becomes bustling from morning to night. Many ships dock at the port, the sound of engines and calls mixed in with the salty atmosphere of the sea breeze. At the wharf, fishermen urgently sort seafood and unload fish and shrimp.
Just bringing a batch of fish ashore, fisherman Nguyen Van Vu Thanh, who has been attached to the fishing profession for more than 10 years, said that at the end of the year, the sea is turbulent, but whenever there is a calm day, the boat goes out to sea again, each trip lasts 5-7 days.
If there is a flight that runs, we celebrate that flight, both having money to share with train partners and worrying about Tet is less difficult," he said.
Mr. Thanh said that he will take advantage of taking another trip before the Tet holiday, hoping the sea will be peaceful and favorable so that the brothers have more income and feel secure to stick to the sea in the new year.
In another corner of the wharf, Mr. Nguyen Van Quy, who has been at sea for more than 25 years, takes the opportunity to check the quantity of fish and shrimp of the cargo ship that just docked. He currently owns 5 double trawlers, specializing in offshore fishing. "Compared to last year, the output is slightly higher, so brothers can rest assured to stick to the sea," Mr. Quy said.
According to Mr. Quy, each sea trip lasts about more than 3 months, each pair of boats has 13 - 14 workers. Throughout the trip, the boat does not wait until the end of the period to return, but there are periodic fishing boats, on average every 5-10 days. "Each load, if it hits, is more than 30 tons, and on average it is also over 20 tons. Such a sea trip usually has about 12 - 15 loads," he said.
Mr. Quy said that seafood prices this year are generally stable, not increasing sharply but also not decreasing compared to last year. "Price stability is good news. Only with a balanced output can brothers live," he shared.
Mr. Quy said that behind each sea trip is a significant cost. The oil money for a fishing trip alone costs about 50,000 - 60,000 liters, about 1 billion VND. Not to mention the cost of ice, food, fishing gear and depreciation of ships and boats.
If it's a bumper crop, after deducting all expenses, the ship owner will have about 500 - 600 million VND left. If there is a loss, it's considered a break-even, but on average, there is still a little profit," Mr. Quy said.
Mr. Quy said that the profit for each ship trip is divided in a ratio of 6:4. Accordingly, the ship owner enjoys 60%, and the remaining 40% is divided equally among crew members, based on contribution level and skills.
Busy repairing, preparing for the new year
At Tran De fishing port these days, many ship owners proactively allow vehicles to dock early to take advantage of repairing, maintaining, and renovating ships and boats before Tet.
My family has more than 10 ships, in recent days several ships have arrived early to have time to repair and prepare for next year's sea trip," a ship owner said.
According to Mr. Quan Duc Danh - Deputy Head of Tran De Fishing Port Management Board, in 2025, seafood exploitation activities at the port were quite stable, with about 4,300 fishing boats docking, of which about 22% were ships from outside the province. The number of ships directly loading seafood was about 2,500, with a total estimated output of 42,000 tons, an increase compared to 39,000 tons in the previous year. The management and supervision of fishing boats, and the implementation of regulations on IUU exploitation have also been promoted.
People are increasingly better complying with journey declaration, port entry and exit registration, and using electronic logbooks. Initially, they were still confused, but were guided and supported, so now they are gradually getting used to it," Mr. Danh said.
According to Can Tho City People's Committee, in 2025, seafood exploitation output is estimated at about 77,000 tons, with 785 fishing vessels registered, licensed and updated on the Vnfishbase system. From the beginning of 2023 to now, Can Tho has not recorded any vessels violating foreign waters, nor has there been any vessels losing signal for a long time.
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