Old people sticking to the sea
In the early days of March 2026, at the Cua Sot ship and boat anchorage area, Loc Ha commune, ships and boats were packed after each offshore trip to dock. Among them, many ship owners are facing difficulties due to lack of labor.
Fisherman Tran Van Cuong (60 years old, residing in Lien Tan village, Loc Ha commune) said that his boat usually goes out to sea with 5 people. However, for a long time, due to the lack of labor to go to sea with, each trip out to sea is mostly with only 2 people. Many days, his crew members are busy, Mr. Cuong also has to go out to sea alone to fish 30 nautical miles from the shore, drifting for 4-5 days at sea before returning to shore.
Floating alone at sea is both sad and hard. But what can I do when there is no labor to recruit to go with. Sad but I don't know what to do, so I have to accept it and it becomes a habit," old fisherman Tran Van Cuong shared.
Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Hong Giao (65 years old, residing in Xuan Phuong village, Loc Ha commune) also complained about the shortage of sea-going labor. According to Mr. Giao, his fishing boat normally needs 6 people to go to sea together. However, for a long time, there has been a shortage of sea-going labor, so his boat only maintains sometimes 3 people, sometimes 4 people per trip to sea. Among them, all are over 50 years old to over 60 years old.
Old age is slower, health is worse, so the efficiency of work when going to sea and fishing is also lower. However, without young labor, it is necessary to use old labor," Mr. Giao shared.
Why is there a shortage of young workers going to sea?
According to old fisherman Tran Van Cuong, the shortage of sea-going labor is a common situation for many fishing boats in Loc Ha commune in particular, and Ha Tinh province in general. The reason is that the sea profession is precarious, hard, and dangerous, and seafood resources are scarce, and fishing output is low. Therefore, young people who grow up, in addition to part going to university, mainly go to vocational training and labor export.
“The whole fishing village has spacious houses, mainly thanks to young people going to work abroad and sending money back to build, but our income from fishing is nothing. We only work to cover daily expenses, but we don't have much surplus,” Mr. Cuong confided.
Mr. Cuong also shared his concern that in the future, when middle-aged generations like him are old and weak, unable to go to sea anymore, it is feared that not many fishermen in this fishing village will retain their profession.
A leader of Loc Ha Commune People's Committee said that the fishing profession is hard, precarious and dangerous, so currently in the locality, the generation of young people who grow up mainly go to work abroad and rarely follow their fathers' fishing profession. This leads to a shortage of young workers going to sea.
In Thien Cam commune, representatives of Cam Nhuong Fisheries Union also affirmed that there is a shortage of young workers going to sea in the locality, currently mainly fishermen who are in the profession are middle-aged and elderly. While young workers mainly go to companies and go to labor export to have stable and better incomes.
Currently, the shortage of young workers going to sea is widespread in many coastal villages of Ha Tinh. While the fishing profession has unstable income, labor export brings stable and higher income.
