On April 19, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters were present at Xuan Hoi fishing port, recording the serious siltation situation at this port. Through observation, on the left side of the port, sand was silted up, so boats could no longer anchor, currently only the right side of the port has a short section that has not been silted up, which can anchor about 10 fishing boats. On this right side, sand continues to siltate up, increasingly narrowing the position of anchoring and mooring boats.
Fisherman Vo Ngoc Thai (47 years old, residing in Hoi Thanh village, Dan Hai commune) said that the situation of sand siltation at Xuan Hoi fishing port has been going on for many years and is becoming more and more severe. "About 3 months ago, some fishing boats could still dock at this location. But now the sand has silted up into a sandbar" - Mr. Vo Ngoc Thai pointed to the sandbar silting into the side of the port and complained.
According to Thai fishermen, because the port is heavily silted up, fishing boats, if they encounter low tide, must dock far away, then use basket boats to transport seafood to the port, which is both time-consuming and labor-intensive and reduces the freshness of seafood.
Sharing the same feelings, fisherman Bui Van Vuong (64 years old, residing in Hoi Thanh village, Dan Hai commune) said that not only are fishing boats and ships having difficulty entering the port to anchor and dock to sell seafood, but when going out to sea, they also have to depend on tides, have to wait for the tide to rise before they can go out to sea, otherwise the boat will have damaged propellers due to stranding.
Fishermen Vo Ngoc Thai, Bui Van Vuong and many other fishermen in Dan Hai commune all shared their wish that functional sectors soon deploy dredging channels and dredging siltation sand at Xuan Hoi fishing port so that they can conveniently dock to sell seafood and leave the port to go to sea.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Quynh Thao - Chairman of Dan Hai Commune People's Committee - said that Xuan Hoi port has been silted up for many years. Up to now, the silting situation has been very serious, narrowing the anchoring space for ships and boats, causing great difficulties for fishermen.
We earnestly request competent authorities to soon allocate funds to deploy dredging of the channel and Xuan Hoi port area to facilitate fishermen in the profession, thereby contributing to promoting seafood purchasing and processing activities in the locality" - Mr. Thao shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh - Director of the Project Management Board (PMB) for Investment in Agricultural Construction and Rural Development of Ha Tinh province - said that currently Xuan Hoi fishing port has been heavily silted up with sand, and the anchoring position of ships and boats is increasingly narrowing, causing difficulties for fishermen's port access and offshore activities.
Also according to Ms. Anh, previously from the compensation for marine environmental incident of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co., Ltd., Ha Tinh province was approved to implement 4 projects to build and upgrade 4 fishing ports, including the dredging and rectification project at Xuan Hoi fishing port with an investment capital of 20 billion VND.
However, through surveys, the cost demand must be much greater to be able to effectively deploy dredging and rectification at Xuan Hoi fishing port, so the Board has proposed to deploy a dredging project with a larger budget and is currently waiting for competent authorities to soon approve the project.
