As the Lunar New Year 2025 approaches, hundreds of fishing boats of Quang Ngai fishermen return to ports such as Tinh Hoa, My A, Tinh Ky... to dock and sell seafood. The last trips to sea of the year bring good luck as fishermen catch big, especially as the prices of many types of seafood double compared to normal days thanks to high demand during the traditional New Year.
Fisherman Nguyen Van Leo - owner of fishing boat QNg 9055 TS (residing in Dinh Tan village, Binh Chau commune, Binh Son district) - shared: "My boat fishes with a trawl net in the Hoang Sa fishing ground. After finishing the month-long year-end trip, the boat caught about 5 tons of various types of fish. After selling, I gave each of my fellow boatmen 10 million VND and a small bonus so that they could return home to celebrate Spring and Tet with their families."
At Tinh Ky Fishing Port, Quang Ngai City, fishing boats with a capacity of less than 90 CV returned with joy after a night at sea.
Fisherman Pham Ngoc Trung (An Vinh hamlet, Tinh Ky commune) shared: "In recent days, my boat has always caught fish, mainly mackerel and anchovies. The current fish price is quite high, on average I earn more than 10 million VND per night. Thanks to that, I can pay the expenses, share the money with my fellow boatmen and cover the upcoming Tet holiday."
Lunar New Year is the occasion when the demand for seafood consumption increases sharply, leading to an increase in seafood prices. This is the motivation for fishermen to continue to go out to sea and stick to the sea.
Fisherman Nguyen Vu (residing in Dinh Tan village, Binh Chau commune, Binh Son district) said: "After a bumper year-end fishing trip, my boat refueled with fuel, ice and necessities to continue sailing through Tet. For us, the boat is home, the sea is our homeland, so celebrating Tet on the boat is like being at home. We just hope the sea is calm so we can go out to sea to do business and bring back lots of shrimp and fish in the first days of the new year."
Quang Ngai province currently has about 4,500 fishing vessels with more than 38,000 workers working at sea. In 2024, the estimated output of aquatic products is 278,260 tons, up 1.7% over the previous year and exceeding the plan by 5%.
Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi - Head of the Department of Fisheries of Quang Ngai province - said that although the fisheries industry is facing many difficulties such as declining aquatic resources, high fuel prices and a shortage of fishing vessels, Quang Ngai fishermen are still resilient, united to continue going out to sea, clinging to the sea to make a living, and at the same time contributing to protecting the sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.
