Finding Solutions For The Stabilization Of The Seafood Output
The seafood price of fishermen was sharply reduced due to storage in the old wooden cellar.Photo by N.Q.V
Pushed-down price of seafood
Upon the fish season, the production atmosphere of fishermen in the province was very bustling. At the Tam Quang Fishing Wharf (Thanh mountain), many fishing vessels docked in tandem to sell their seafood, refuel and buy some necessities to their next trip. “Our trip reached the yield, 10 other fishermen and I brought back about a total of 8 tons of fish after 10 days in the sea, mainly tuna, mackerel, raft fish and Chang Fish,” Fisherman Dang Ngoc La said after came back from Hoang Sa island. “Although the seafood source is so much, its output is unstable.” According to Mr. La, raft fish and Chang fish are really rare and high value products, but traders only buy them with the price of 21 thousand dong per kg. “Through the exchange of seafood prices, we heard that some vessel owners in Quang Binh, Nghe An told that they sold Chang fish and Raft fish at the price of 30 thousand dong per kg. However, fishermen in this local area could only sell with the low price of 21 thousand dong. If we did not sell the seafood, their value would be decreased,” Mr. La said.
In Cua Dai ward (Hoi An city), most fishermen have turned to catch the cutlass fish because this is a very valuable product. However, according to the People’s Committee of Cua Dai ward, for a long time, although the price of cutlass fish has been constantly increasing, it only brought profit to traders and cutlass fish processing places, not fishermen. “We manufacture products on a small scale, each fishing vessel goes to sea to catch the seafood separately. When coming back to the shore, each fisherman would find a place to sell their products without linking together to sell products of the same trader or collector as agreement. The scene of fish is bumper-to-bumper, but the price depreciation keeps recurring” – fisherman Pham Van Trung (Phuoc Hai Street, Cua Dai Ward) said. Mr. Trung also said that traders sold the large-sized cutlass fish to fish processing places for up to 100 thousand VND/kg, but they only bought at only 50 thousand VND from local fishermen. Mr. Le Cong Sy, Vice Chairman of Cua Dai Ward People’s Committee, said that fishermen always sold seafood at lower prices because of going through intermediaries and small consumption. If the fishermen’s products were sold in the supermarket, the value would increase.
Consumption connection
From the concerns of fishermen and local authorities, we went to the Tam Ky Co.opMart supermarket. Here, there are a variety of seafood for sale in separate stalls, most of which are salmon products. A large number of customers asked to buy these packaged frozen seafood products. Cuttle Squid, broad squid, mackerel, and goby fish also attracted customers. We asked a supervisor whether seafood products of Quang Nam fishermen can be sold in supermarkets or not? According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Suong – Head of Food Technology (Co.opMart Tam Ky) said, “All of good-quality seafood products can be sold at this supermarket, especially seafood exploited and processed in Quang Nam. If we are offered, we will take the survey; If the product meets the criteria of food safety and hygiene, quality certification, and product testing, we will sign a purchase and sale contract”. Ms. Suong also said that the current seafood on sale at the Tam Ky Co.opMart is purchased from many provinces and cities nationwide such as Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan. “The seafood products being sold at Co.opMart Tam Ky are transferred to the distribution channel of the corporation in Ho Chi Minh City. We also have another channel that is self-trading in local area to purchase seafood in Quang Nam for sale. Just need enterprises to offer, we will certainly implement the plan inmmediately “- Ms. Suong said.
According to Co.opMart Tam Ky, seafood products sold in supermarkets must have been processed, packed and designed beautifully. Therefore, supermarkets could not import raw products which fishermen brought back from the sea if their products did not go through the preliminary process. Regarding this, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Le Tri Thanh suggested that coastal authorities facilitate fishermen to associate with together to establish groups or co-operatives. In addition, the Provincial People’s Committee also created maximum conditions for enterprises to invest into Quang Nam, connect with fishermen, and process seafood to increase post-exploitation value and stabilize the fisheries. Dai Duong Xanh company was decided to invest in the Fisheries Logistic Area of Tam Quang Commune by People’s Committee, which would be a good signal for the connection role as above.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the seafood price of fishermen pressed down was partly due to the limited storage and scratched seafood. Traders took advantage of that to ask fishermen to reduce the price of seafood. Recently, some fishermen in the province have bravely invested in seafood storage with PU technology. This is a seafood cellar insulated by a polyurethane foam material. This model is gradually working well. Mr. Ngo Tan – Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that it was necessary to replicate the model of seafood storage using PU technology. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development instructed Quang Nam Agricultural Extension Center to continue supporting fishermen to invest and equip fishing cellars using this technology with the capital of the province or the central government as well. In addition, the Government’s decree on a number of fisheries development policies would also help fishermen access the capital, and equip more modern cellars on large-capacity fishing vessels.
Nguyen Quang Viet
According to Quang Nam Newspaper
