Fishermen expect government support
Quang Nam province currently has about 122 trawlers licensed by the Quang Nam Fisheries Department. 10 years ago, the authorities stopped issuing new licenses to trawlers, but in reality, many fishermen bought trawlers in Quang Ngai to fish illegally.
Licensed trawlers are all between 12m and under 15m in length. According to the Fisheries Law, these vessels must fish in the open sea, but they still secretly fish in coastal waters, despite being fined many times by the fisheries sector.
The trawling profession, especially the double trawling, is carried out by dropping fishing gear to the seabed and then starting the engine to pull the net away. Because the range of the net includes both the bottom and the surface, all seafood, big and small, is captured, coral is destroyed, and the coastal ecosystem is harmed.
Nguyen Tan Hung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Hai island commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province, said that there are hundreds of households fishing small fish in the area. However, the situation of trawlers operating in the wrong direction has caused the near-shore marine environment to be destroyed, depleting seafood resources, and also damaging the fishing gear of small-capacity boats, affecting the livelihoods of fishermen.
At an online dialogue with the Chairman of the Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee at the end of 2024, fishermen said that although they are aware of the destructive dangers of their profession, they cannot switch to other, more environmentally friendly seafood exploitation professions because they do not have enough capital.
“Just buying fishing gear for purse seine, drag net, and gill net fishing costs hundreds of millions of dong. I hope the government will support us because we do not have enough resources to switch to trawling. The province’s ban on trawling in coastal waters makes life even more difficult. I suggest that the province should provide career guidance so that fishermen have conditions to do business and make a living,” fisherman Van Toan (name changed), a trawler owner in Tam Giang commune, Nui Thanh district, suggested.
Build a career conversion project
Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Uy - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Tien Commune, Nui Thanh District said that previously, the locality had the largest number of trawlers in the province.
Since the Ba Dau Reef Marine Resources Protection Community Group came into operation at the end of 2022, it has encouraged many trawler owners to switch to investing in fishing with anchovy purse seines, light purse seines, and grab nets.
Similarly, many fishermen who own trawlers in Cu Lao Cham have been supported by the local authorities to change their jobs to tourism, homestay, diving services, coral viewing, participating in community groups to protect the sea and fishing with other fishing professions in accordance with regulations.
According to Mr. Uy, if there are no mechanisms and policies to support the lives of fishermen in the trawling profession, it will be difficult to change the destruction of resources, ecology, and marine environment.
Chairman of the Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee Le Van Dung affirmed that the whole country has banned nearshore trawling, and by 2030, offshore trawling will also be banned. This is the policy of the Party and the State in combating illegal fishing to remove the "yellow card" for Vietnam's seafood. Therefore, we hope that fishermen will comply and stop using trawling nets. The province has also repeatedly directed and assigned the Border Guard to strictly control, to prevent recurrence.
According to Quang Nam leaders, the wishes and recommendations of fishermen are completely legitimate. In the immediate future, the authorities of Nui Thanh district and communes need to pay attention to and understand the lives of fishermen, not letting any people face difficulties during this Tet holiday.
“I propose that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies promptly develop a project to convert fishermen into occupations and submit it to competent authorities for consideration and decision. In particular, it is necessary to study the authorization of banks to lend money to people to convert occupations; calculate the planning of aquaculture areas to stabilize fishermen's lives and develop the aquaculture industry sustainably,” emphasized the Chairman of the Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee.
