Fishermen Net Bumper Haul and Profit in January

Of the figure, 195,000 tonnes were sea catches and the remaining were from inland water sources.

Provinces that had the highest volume of fish caught at sea were all in the south: Kien Giang (35,000 tonnes), Ba Ria Vung Tau (22,000 tonnes), Ben Tre (14,000 tonnes) and Tien Giang (5,000 tonnes), reports VNS.

Last month, two storms in the south and low tropical pressures in the north affected fishing and aquaculture activities.

However, more fish like tuna, scad and anchovies have been caught in recent weeks.

In the central province of Binh Dinh, one of the countrys major tuna fishing provinces, fishermen caught 618 tonnes of tuna in January, up 54 per cent against the same period last year, according to the province. Mai Kim Thi, head of the provinces Sub-department of Aquatic Resource Exploitation and Protection, said this was the main season for catching tuna.

The price of tuna is now VND60,000-65,000 per kilo, a drop of half against the same period last year.

However, fishing boats still earned a profit of VND40-100 million for each trip, Thi said.

Fishermen in the central province of Quang Ngai have had a bumper catch of ruoc, a kind of tiny shrimp with a length of 1-4 cm. One fishing boat can catch 500-2,500 kg of ruoc a day.

Local fishermen said that, with a price of VND20,000-35,000 per kilo, a fishing boat can earn a profit of VND8-52 million (US$380-2,400) a day.

Ruoc has appeared about one nautical mile from shore and will be available until April, according to fishermen.

Fishermen in Quang Ngai, which has about 7,000 fishing boats, have also had a good catch before Tet, which begins this Sunday.

Fisherman Tran Van Quoc in Binh Son Districts Binh Chau Commune said his last trip earned profits of VND200 million.

The country also harvested 181,000 tonnes of fish and other aquatic species from aquaculture in January, up 3.4 per cent against the same period last year, according to the Directorate of Fisheries.

In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, the countrys largest aquatic cultivation area, major cultivated aquatic species are tra fish and shrimp.

The deltas provinces have been raising tra fish, while some provinces have begun a new crop.

Dong Thap Province has begun a new tra fish crop on an area of 956ha that is raising 64 million fish fries.

Delta farmers have also begun a new shrimp crop.

Bac Lieu, one of the largest shrimp-cultivation provinces in the Delta, is raising 67,670ha of black tiger shrimp and 21ha of white-legged shrimp.