Ca Na village in Ca Na commune, Ninh Thuan province, has a 200-year history. In the Cham language, Ca Na means "underground rock", a reference to the area’s many reefs. Fishing has made Ca Na a wealthy coastal village in Ninh Thuan province.
Ca Na Beach (Photo: Ngoc Anh/VOV5)
Ca Na villagers make a living from fishing, aquaculture, seafood processing, and providing tourism services. Ca Na commune provides 80% of all the fishing boats in Ninh Thuan province.
The boat owners form teams, with some boats fishing, some transporting seafood to the mainland, some providing fuel to other boats, and some supplying essential goods to the boats doing the fishing. This increases efficiency, reduces costs, and stabilizes production, said villager Trinh Kim Anh.
According to Kim Anh, the main fishing season is from June to September. The catch includes all kinds of fish, such as anchovies, scads, and tuna. A fishing boat usually has 15 to 17 crewmen, with the smallest boat carrying 12 people.
“This fishing model is efficient because vessels often go more than 100 nautical miles along the fish shoals. Offshore fishing is done in groups of 5 to 10 ships. A small boat can catch up to 10 tons of fish, while a large ship can catch 10 to 30 tons. In a bumper season, a ship owner earns between 22,000 and 212,000 USD in profit,” said Kim Anh.
Fishing boats anchored at Ca Na fishing port (Photo: Ngoc Anh/VOV5)
Ca Na commune has two fishing ports - an old port and a new port. The modern seaport system can accommodate 1,200 boats at anchor, making Ca Na a destination for any fisherman in the south-central region.
Nguyen Thanh Xuan, head of the team in charge of coastal fishing in Ca Na commune, said that the old Ca Na fishing port, built about 20 years ago, mainly handles the boats of Ca Na and Phuoc Diem commune.
“The State’s investment in building a new fishing port has made it easier for fishermen to catch seafood. Last year, the state sucked up mud and expanded the narrow passages of Ca Na fishing port, allowing it to serve fishing boats from Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa province,” Xuan commented.
In addition to expanding the wharf, Ninh Thuan plans to expand the anchorage for avoiding storms.
The local administration has increased communications and mobilized fishermen to do offshore fishing to develop fishing grounds and protect Vietnam’s sovereignty over sea and islands.
A fishing boat building workshop in Ca Na commune (Photo: Ngoc Anh/VOV5)
Nguyen Duy Lan, Vice Chairman of Ca Na commune’s People's Committee, said the local administration has called on fishermen to continue fishing while agencies have looked for more fishing grounds and informed boat owners when there are fish, reducing their cost of finding aquatic resources.
Lan added, “Every year, fishermen are given national flags to fly on their boat to help affirm national sovereignty when they do offshore fishing. The fishermen also make fish sauce. The craft involves more than 60 establishments. Ca Na anchovy fish sauce is sold nationwide. Quang Minh fish sauce of Ca Na commune has been recognized as a 3-star product under the OCOP national program.”
Border guards provide security for fishermen fishing offshore. Captain Phan Minh Hieu, head of the Ca Na border checkpoint of the Phuoc Diem border station under the Ninh Thuan provincial border guard, said that the border guard station has instructed local fishermen to deal with legal procedures and go to safe anchorage areas when there is a natural disaster, and helped them set up solidarity teams to support one another at sea and inform authorities about any infringements on Vietnamese waters by foreign fishing vessels.
“This is a way to protect Vietnam’s sovereignty of sea and islands,” said caption Minh Hieu.
Ngoc Anh