In the days leading up to the traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet), at the Tho Quang fishing wharf based in Son Tra District, the atmosphere is vibrant and bustling with large numbers of ships and boats owned by fishermen arriving and departing here. Many fishermen hope that their year-end sea voyages will be bountiful so that Tet will be more jubilant.

Fishermen are transporting fish to the Tho Quang seafood wholesale market for sale. Photo: VAN HOANG

As recorded at the Tho Quang fishing wharf, these days, the number of offshore fishing vessels from central localities such as Thanh Hoa, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai arrived at the wharf, creating a busier ambiance than before.

After the trip to the country’s territorial waters, many fishing boats brought a lot of seafood ashore. Just having his fishing boat docked at the wharf, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhan, a fisherman from the central coastal province of Quang Ngai said that, during this trip, his ship caught more than 2 tonnes of fish, most of which had high economic value. This is a convenient fishing trip near Tet, so everyone is happy.

Similarly, with many years of experience working with the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa fishing grounds, Mr. Nguyen Van Loi, living in Tho Quang Ward, Son Tra District said that these days are "golden times" for ships and boats to reach out to key fishing grounds.

According to  Doi, this year, due to the continuous rain and storm situation, offshore fishing trips faced many disadvantages, often interrupted, which caused mainly the ships had to stay ashore or just fish near.

“The past trip, I went out to the sea for 7 days and caught more than 1 tonne of fish and scad. Excluding the cost of fuel and meals, each crew member also gets several million VND. From now until Tet, we will take another trip so that crew members onboard can have more income in preparation for Tet," said Doi.

Besides many ships docked, a number of other ships have urgently prepared fishing gear, fuel, food and machinery to be ready to head out to the sea for the year-end trip.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, the owner of fishing boat DNa90463 TS in Nai Hien Dong Ward, Son Tra District said that the demand for seafood products has increased sharply, so fishermen are racing against time to do more catches. Compared to the beginning of December, the weather is now more favourable, so his ship is fully prepared for the upcoming trip.

At the end of the year, seafood resources are often scarce, so the price on the market is very high, and all fishermen are eager to reach out to sea in the hope of collecting a lot of "sea fortune" and then return to the shore to celebrate Tet with their families.

Not far away, Mr. Dinh Van Phuc, owner of fishing boat DNa97448 TS in Tho Quang Ward, Son Tra District and other fishermen urgently checked machinery and communication equipment in preparation for the next trip. He said, in the first half of December, due to rough seas, his 700 CV fishing vessel had to lie ashore.

According to him, on bad weather days, the amount of seafood caught is not much and there are potential risks to safety so his ship and many other fishing boats in the area limit their offshore fishing activities.

Till date, when the weather is more stable and warmer, he and his boat-mates boldly set sails at the end of the year.

Fishermen are satisfied with their bumper catches. Photo: VAN HOANG

Mr. Pham Tan Canh, a fisherman from Nui Thanh District, Quang Nam Province said that if the fishing boats hit the fishing channel, they can only come ashore in 7-10 days, otherwise it will take 15-20 days, or sometimes, it takes a month to make home comeback. He and many other fishermen hope to have profitable fishing trips so that they can return to celebrate Tet with their family.

According to the Authority of the Tho Quang Fishing Wharf, compared with the same period in 2022, the number of ships docking at the wharf decreased sharply, leading to a decrease in seafood output.

Through statistics from January 1 to 12, the total number of ships docked at the wharf to sell fish was only 418, only reaching 67% compared to 2022. The total seafood output through the wharf reached 2,121 tonnes, reaching 89.9% in 2022.

It is forecasted that from now to before the Tet break, the number of fishing vessels will go up. "The sale and purchase at Tho Quang seafood wholesale market will end at dawn on the 30^th day of the 12^th lunar month of 2022 and return to operation on the 3^rd day of the 1^st lunar month of 2023.

Reporting by VAN HOANG, CHIEN THANG - Translating by A.THU