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The farther fishing boats go, the greater their losses
Fishermen in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province nowadays are not enthusiastic about fishing anymore. Facing losses and insolvency, a lot of people are trying to sell their boats because they do not have money to go out to sea. 40% of boats reported losses in the first three months of the year.
Nguyen Ton Nien, the owner of the boat BV47..TS - BV04..TS, has been going to the dry dock of Phuoc Tinh Ship Company Ltd everyday for the last six months to seek buyers for his boat. After the fuel price rose dramatically in 2007-2008, Nien incurred the loss of VND1bil and he does not have any more money to go fishing on the open sea any longer.
Selling boats because of losses
Nien related that he had been going out to sea for nearly 20 years. He is trying to sell the boat at VND7mil, but he still cannot find a buyer, while he has to spend VND40,000 everyday to hire a room for his boat. The total amount he owes banks and relatives has reached VND1.5bil.
Local fishermen in Phuoc Tinh commune in Ba Ria-Vung Tau also say that they are facing big difficulties. According to Pham Tinh, Head of the Fisheries Committee of Phuoc Tinh commune, only 20% of boats have reported profit for fishing trips earlier this year, while 40% have broken even, and the remaining 40% have reported losses. Many boats reportedly incurred the loss of over VND100mil, while others lost several tens of million VND.
“Fishermen reported profit because they did not calculate the amortisation for boats and equipment. If they calculated the amortisation as well, they would find out that they all incurred losses,” Tinh said.
According to the commune’s authorities, 10-15% of the boats had to stay onshore after the first fishing trip earlier this year. The other boats still kept going out to sea after their owners borrowed money from parents and relatives.
Nguyen Viet Khai, Director of Phuoc Tinh Ship Company Ltd, said that this year proves to be the toughest period for both the fishing and shipbuilding industries. Since 2008, the company has not received any order for new boats. Meanwhile, in previous years, the company built some 10 boats a year.
“It costs VND4-5bil to build a couple of new boats, a huge sum of money. Therefore, no one dares make investment in new boats if they continue suffering losses,” he said.
According to Tinh, the golden age of Phuoc Tinh’s fishing industry was in 2005, when the number of offshore fishing boats reached 1,150. The fleet has decreased to 1,060 offshore fishing boats, and 300 boats for fishing near the shore.
Expenses up, fish sale prices down
The fuel price has decreased by 30% in comparison with last year. However, the life of fishermen has not become better. It is because fishing output has been decreasing, and fish sale prices have also been decreasing, while other expenses have been increasing.
Tinh said that the total fishing output of Phuoc Tinh Commune was 15,000 tonnes in the first three months of the year, while the prices of many kinds of fish decreased by 50% over the same period of 2008.
Tran Ngoc Dung, Head of the Vo Minh Boat Group, which has four pairs of offshore fishing boats, said that only cuttlefish remains the same price as last year’s level, at VND150-170,000/kg, while the prices of other fishes have dropped by a half from VND14-15,000/kg to VND8,000/kg. Dung said that the total expenses for a couple of boats fishing for three months are now VND700mil, while the money got from fish sales is just enough to cover expenses.
VietNamNet, TT
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