In Quang Ngai Province, many fishing boats, which had been out to sea up to a month or more, returned on Monday to the Sa Ky Port in Binh Son District's Binh Chau Commune.

Nguyen Huu Phuc of Binh Chau Commune said his boat with 10 fishermen docked at Sa Ky Port with more than 10 tonnes of various kinds of fish after nearly one month at sea. Each fishermen earned between VND10-20 million (US$470-950).

The Fishing Trade Union for Binh Chau Commune said that more than 10 fishing boats in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago will return within the next five days, according to Nguyen Thanh Hung, deputy chairman of the Binh Chau Commune People's Committee.

Trader Nguyen Thi Lan said fish caught after Tet sold easily at good prices. Fish from the archipelago are big and flavourful, she added.

Nguyen Van Thanh, a fisherman and head of the Cam Nhuong Commune Fishing Trade Union in Ha Tinh Province's Cam Xuyen District, said favourable weather, calm seas, a drop in fuel prices and abundant fish supply contributed to high profits for fishermen.

Each boat with four to five fishermen can earn a profit of VND25-30 million ($1,190–1,400) for each five- to six-day trip, he said.

In Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Binh Dinh provinces, the country's largest tuna fishing provinces, tuna boats have had bumper catches.

Tran Van Hoa said his tuna boat returned to Phu Yen's Tuy Hoa City with 65 tuna weighing a total of 2.8 tonnes after more than one month at sea.

"This is the biggest catch I have had in nearly a year," he said.

In Tuy Hoa City's Dong Tac Village, about 160 tuna fishing boats will return to shore soon with a good catch, according to local fishermen.

In Khanh Hoa Province, many fishermen who returned to shore are preparing to go out again as there are plenty of tuna in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Lobster fries

In Phu Yen Province, about 700 small boats have been catching lobster fries at night as there has been a large quantity off the coast.

Each boat has an average of two to three fishermen and can catch about 20-60 lobster fries every night. With a current price of VND200,000 per fry, each fisherman can earn an income of VND2-5 million a night.

Lobster fries are sold to people who breed lobsters in Phu Yen and neighbouring provinces like Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa.

In Phu Yen, one of the country's largest lobster breeding provinces, farmers breed lobsters in about 20,000 cages, mostly in Song Cau Town, Tuy An and Dong Hoa districts.

Lobster fries are not farmed and are caught only in the sea.

Phu Yen has zoned 5ha of sea in Tuy An District's An Phu Commune to protect the lobster fry population. 

On February 21, the people of Sa Huynh fishing village in the central province of Quang Ngai held the Cau Ngu Festival - an annual festival praying for a good fish harvest. Some pictures of the event:

VNS/VNE