China illegally positioned the HD-981 oil drilling rig in Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf on 2 May.  To make the issue worse, China recently enforced a unilateral fishing ban in the East Sea, which encompasses the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) waters, between 16 May and 1 August.  Despite this, Da Nang’s fishermen have launched many high-capacity offshore fishing vessels to prepare for trips to the Hoang Sa waters.

A local high-capacity offshore fishing boat

The family of Mr Nguyen Suong from Son Tra District’s Nai Hien Dong Ward recently launched the 2 largest ever offshore fishing vessels in the central region, along with a fisheries support ship.  By late this month, the 2 fishing vessels will make trips to the Hoang Sa fishing grounds, whilst the support ship will be used for buying the seafood caught at sea directly from other fishing boats.  As well as these vessels, the family of Mr Suong possesses one 450 horsepower and one 500 horsepower fishing vessel.

According to the city’s Fisheries Department, there will be 10 new over-400 horsepower offshore fishing vessels in the city by the end of this year.  Since January, 5 offshore fishing vessels from 450 to 1,150 horsepower have been launched successfully.  Between 400 million VND and 800 million VND from the city’s budget will be given to the owners of the launched vessels, to support them, depending on the capacity of their vessels.  This is the third successive year that the local authorities have provided financial aid for local fishermen, and is expected to witness the highest number of beneficiaries from this preferential policy.  This proves a breakthrough in the city’s incentive strategies for developing its fishing industry.