Fishing labor faces consequences due to weakness and shortage of professional workers

Low working skill causes output loss for fishing boats

Regarding the quality of marine workers, senior fisherman Nguyen Quang (72 years old), the owner of tuna fishing boat number KH 92539 TS in Phuoc Dong commune (Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province), said: "Due to the lack of labor, ship owners have to accept many unskilled workers, even those from mountain areas. Therefore, the efficiency of fishing trips has been greatly affected."

It is clear that if two fishing boats have the same practice, the same number of crew and laborers as well as good machinery and equipment, the one with more professional laborers will work better and smoother than the other.

A boat with a large unprofessional workforce will work more slowly than the one with high-skilled workers who can finish salting the fish and release a new net very quickly.

Fisherman Bui Thanh Ninh, owner of 8 off-shore fishing boats in Tam Quan Bac ward (Hoai Nhon town, Binh Dinh), further analyzed: “Most of the amateur workers often suffer from seasickness. to encounter their problems, not only the crew have to bear the "burden" of their works but also spend time to take care of them... In tuna fishing, amateur laborers cannot meet its technical requirements. This is the cause of a reduction of efficiency of fishing vessels.”

Boats have to be sold due to a lack of professional labor

According to fishing boat owners, a shortage of professional marine workers will lead to a decline in offshore fishing jobs. In fact, in Phuoc Dong commune (Nha Trang city) there is a family that has 3 generations attached to the sea for fishing, but due to lack of labor, the fishing boat has to stay ashore for months. The owner was so frustrated that he had sold the boat-his so-called "fishing rod" to change to another job.

Another fisherman, Dang Quan, in Hon Ro, Phuoc Dong commune (Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province) had also sold 2 tuna fishing boats because he was so "tired" of looking for workers.

According to Quan, his family used to have 3 tuna fishing boats. When he was at the peak of success in fishing, many workers had applied for a job on his boats so he had to choose the most professional ones to be on board. However, in recent years, although Quan's family has tried all ways to find labor, the ship goes on a few trips without workers or has to stay ashore.

As a result, the family had to sell the boats because if they left them ashore, they had to hire someone to look after them. Moreover, leaving the boats without care could also result in damage to machines and the fishing facilities. Quang Nam province is trying to help solve the issue of marine labor shortage by encouraging boat owners to apply new modern equipment in fishing. For example, the province supports them in using horizontal fish detectors and net collecting machines, at the same time, promoting mechanization in the stages of net release and collection with the aim to increase fishing efficiency, and reduce the labor force on fishing vessels.

“Vocational training for marine workers now requires the participation of specialized units such as fishery universities and institutes or vocational high schools. Quang Nam currently does not have any vocational high school for fisheries, so in recent years, the province has mainly cooperated with Nha Trang University to open training courses for fishermen, but mainly captains and chief engineers.

To increase the efficiency of fishing as well as improve the qualifications and quality of marine workers, Quang Nam has come up with a solution to adjust the structure of boats, shifting part of the laborers working near coastal areas into fishing offshore waters", a representative of Quang Nam Fisheries Sub-Department said.