In recent days, Da Nang’s Tho Quang fishing wharf has been crowded with fishing boats, the majority of them from central coast localities.  The boats would usually be fishing in Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa waters and elsewhere along the central coast, but the recent bad weather has kept them in port.

The captain of a fishing boat from Quang Ngai Province, Mr Nguyen Van Cuong, said that over the first 9 months of this year his vessel had made regular trips to the Hoang Sa waters.  However, the boat has now been tied up at the fishing wharf for over a month due to the bad weather, and all his crew members have gone back to their home towns.

Many fishing boats berthed at the Tho Quang fishing wharf

Hundreds of offshore fishing vessels from Da Nang are now tied up in the Man Quang lagoon and along the eastern bank of the Han River.  Like the fishing boats, many of the local fisheries support ships are also staying in port.  The majority of the fishing boats which have arrived at the wharf in recent days have only been on inshore fishing trips and bring in only small catches.