Falling petrol prices encourage fishermen to cling to the sea

Preparation of an of-shore fishing trip

Currently, local fishermen are preparing fuel and other essential items for the main fishing season, with long-day offshore fishing trips, and cheap oil has helped reduce approximately 20 - 30% of total costs for each fishing ship. According to calculation of fisherman Nguyen Minh from Binh Hung ward (Phan Thiet city), a 15-day fishing trip of his family’s 15-meter long boat will consume a total amount of crude oil worth about VND 160-180 million, VND 40-50 million lower than the previous trips. Hence, crew members are expected to get higher portion of profits.

Thanks to favourable weather, nearly 1,000 large-capacity fishing vessels have begun their long-day trips. The reduction of oil prices in the past few months has also helped cut many other expenses for a fishing boat operations.  On the other hand, the closure of all restaurants and shops in the locality in prevention of the spread of Covid-19 has caused falling prices of many kinds of seafood products. Cheap oil is considered as a relief for local fisherman amid long-lasting social distancing for Covid-19 prevention and control.

Currently, the locality and fishermen are working hard to complete the installations of cruise monitoring equipment on offshore fishing vessels in line with  Decree No.26/ND-CP dated March 8, 2019 of the Government regulated measures to implement the Fisheries Law.

Translated by Phuong Lan (Source: Binhthuan Newspaper)