Over recent years, Da Nang’s Son Tra District has focused on developing offshore fishing fleets in order to fully tap the national fishery resources and to combine this with protecting sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

Mrs Tran Thi Thanh Tam, Chairwoman of the district People’s Committee, remarked “Son Tra District takes the lead in the city’s fishery sector with the greatest number of high-capacity fishing boats.  Our top priority has been to increase the number of high-capacity fishing vessels rather than low-capacity ones”. 

She added that the number of over 90CV fishing boats in the district climbed by 60 from 201 in 2014 to 261 in 2015.  This impressive growth played an important role in promoting the exploitation of seafood in a sustainable manner in combination with protecting the country’s sovereignty over its sea and islands.

Mr Nguyen Suong’s fishing boat

Most notably, last year saw the launching of 4 fishing boats with capacities of between 800CV and 1,000CV by the family of Mr Nguyen Suong from the district’s Nai Hien Dong Ward.  These boats help his family earn 5 billion VND per year.

Mr Suong said, “I have set this year’s target of increasing my family’s income by over 20% compared with last year, and to raise the earnings of my crew members from 100 to 120 million VND per year”.

Another typical example is Mr Tran Van Muoi from the district’s Man Thai Ward who owns the central region’s largest squid fishing boat. 

Mr Muoi remarked, “My boat operates in the Truong Sa waters catching squid, which earns us between 2 and 3 billion VND a year.  Thanks to the high capacity of the boat, I and the other fishermen on board can make offshore fishing trips and protect Viet Nam’s sovereignty over its sea and islands”.    

In order to ensure the safety of fishermen whilst fishing at sea, 6 new groups of boats were established in the district last year.  This has increased the total number to 67 groups with 397 fishing vessels.  Included are 41 offshore fishing groups with 203 boats each with a capacity of over 90CV.

Chairwoman Thanh Tam affirmed, “By 2020, my district will focus on building more over 90 CV offshore fishing vessels, which would make up 30% of the total fishing vessels in the district, in order to further develop local offshore fishing activities”.