Thousands of fishing boats are idling on the shores of the Mekong Delta as gasoline prices have increased, causing a surge in prices of other commodities.
Lately, numerous fishing boats are lying anchored in areas along the river mouths and wharfs of Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces.
On Cai Be River and Tac Cau fishing wharf in Chau Thanh District of Kien Giang Province, boats have lined up along a one-kilometer stretch in queues of five or six.
Boat owner Nguyen Chi Duc laments that his last trip cost him more to run than the profit gained. He had suffered a VND40 million (US$1,900) loss after one month at sea.
According to the agriculture industry in Kien Giang Province, the petrol price hike had skyrocketed prices of fishing material as well. Fishermen are bearing losses as the expense of a fishing trip has rocketed by 40 percent while the fish prices have only risen by 10-15 percent.
Kien Giang Province has the largest fishing fleet in the country with 12,000 boats, 10 percent of which are now anchored ashore.
Thousand of boats are idling on shores due to petrol price-hikes, triggering losses to fishermen in Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces.
To Duy Dai, chairman of the Fishery Association in Rach Gia town of Kien Giang Province, said that the number of boats staying ashore are 10 percent but the number out at sea might be 50 percent.
Because of high expenses, several boat owners have decided to stop fishing, anchor at sea and wait there to catch a load of fish.
Some boat owners in Kien Giang Province have organized a fleet of small boats to send supplies of food, water and ice to the anchored boats and then carry the caught fish back to the wharfs.
This method can prolong each fishing trip from three to four months and save about 2,000 liters of petrol. However, fishermen cannot suffer the severe conditions of the sea for very long durations. Boats have to also come back to shore for repair and maintenance work.
Many fishermen are discarding their boats to seek other jobs.
Assisting fishermen
Nguyen Van Hoa from Dong Hai District of Bac Lieu Province wants the Government to have policies to help fishermen, for instance, increasing the price of seafood.
Nguyen Ngoc Phuong, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Kien Giang Province said that the department has proposed to authorized organizations to give boat owners preferential loans so that they can afford to buy fuel and fishing materials.
The department has also proposed to relevant authorities to continue exemption of business tax and income tax for boat owners and to cut short administrative procedures for them.
Meanwhile, Chu Vinh Tien, deputy head of the Directorate of Fisheries said that his directorate has drafted a project assisting fishermen with petrol expenses to submit to the Prime Minister for approval.
The insurgence of petrol price has caused 30 percent of fishing boats in the Mekong Delta to stay ashore and 40 percent to work perfunctorily. Only 30 percent of the boats are operating normally. Most of the boats staying ashore are high-capacity ones.
