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Draft for fishermen's fund sent to Committee for approval
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in central Quang Ngai Province has proposed to set up a fund to support offshore fishermen.
Deputy Head of the department Phan Huy Hoang said the outline would be submitted to the provincial People's Committee for approval by the end of this month.
In Quang Ngai, fishing is still the livelihood of thousands of people. Its unprecedented move to support fishermen covers everything from hijacking by pirates, boats being confiscated by other nations, and sinking during storms or through collisions with other vessels.
"The risks are growing steadily in the traditional fishing grounds for Quang Ngai fishermen – in the waters around the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagoes," Hoang told Viet Nam News.
Deputy Chairman of the committee, Truong Ngoc Nhi, said at least 12 boats owned by Quang Ngai's fishermen had been illegally confiscated in the past year while they were fishing in waters around the archipelagoes.
Under current policies, fishermen only receive financial aid if they suffer losses caused by natural disasters, such as storms.
The fund will be set up so that it will not draw heavily from the State budget, like other funds for fishermen, but rather by mobilising contributions from individuals, enterprises and organisations.
"The number of fishermen under the umbrella of current support funds is far from the real demand," Hoang said. "As dangerous as it is, fishermen can't give up their traditional fishing grounds."
Fisherman Nguyen Van Hai from Vinh An Commune said: "In terms of loss, being attacked by foreign boats at sea is no different from encountering storms, ending up either bankrupt or dead."
The new fund would also support fishermen by subsidising fuel costs or providing loans to buy working tools.
Before the fund is introduced, hopefully by the end of this year, according to deputy chairman Nhi, the province still has different mechanisms to support fishermen.
These include providing fishing families with 15kg of rice per person per month for three months during slack periods.
"While fishermen whose boats are taken by foreigners are eligible to receive financial aid from VND40-120 million (About US$2,080-6,240), this covers only a small part of the losses, given that boats are generally worth hundreds of million of dong," he said.
Authorities from neighbouring Quang Nam and Da Nang provinces have welcomed the new Quang Ngai approach.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Quang Nam Province is moving in the same direction. It is already supporting fishermen who want to upgrade the power of their boats to get to more distant fishing fields.
Deputy director of the Da Nang-based Tho Quang Seafood Processing and Export Co, Nguyen Anh Tuan, said he was ready to contribute to the proposed new fund because fishermen's output affected his company's output.
"If the fishermen aren't protected, we can't secure a regular material supply, either," Tuan said.
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