CPF technology reduces the cost of offshore fishing

In March 2022, Quang Tri Agricultural Extension Center deployed the CPF (Composite - Polyurethane Foam) technology application model in product preservation on offshore fishing vessels. Mr. Le Van Tuan, a fisherman in Xuan Loc village, Gio Viet commune, Gio Linh district is a beneficiary household.

On offshore fishing, Mr. Tuan installed 2 tunnels on the family fishing boat to preserve CPF technology. After installing the tunnel, Mr. Tuan went on two offshore trips.

On the first trip, after 20 days of sailing, the ship brought back 100 tons of seafood of all kinds with a profit of VND300 million. On the second trip, after 15 days of sailing time, the ship caught 32 tons of fish with VND140 million in profit.

According to Mr. Tuan, the stone loss rate was 25% on the first trip. On the second trip to the sea, the stone loss rate was only about 15%. Meanwhile, when the CPF tunnel has not been used, the stone loss is up to 60-70%.

It is worth mentioning that, since the application of CPF technology, the quality of fish is fresher, and the preservation time is longer, so the selling price increases by 5-10%.

National Agricultural Extension Center assigned the project of building a model to apply CPF technology in product preservation on offshore fishing vessels to the Thua Thien - Hue Agricultural Extension Center to implement from 2021 to 2023.

The project will build 12 models in 4 provinces including Thua Thien - Hue (3), Quang Tri (3), Quang Binh (3), and Nghe An (3) with the scale of 1 ship/model, 2 storage tunnels/vessel. The volume of each tunnel is ≥ 25 m3. The total project cost in 3 years is VND4 billion.

According to information from the Vietnam Agricultural Extension, the actual use shows that the cellar preserved by CPF technology saves nearly 30% of the lost ice. The seafood quality preserved by CPF technology increased by 25 - 30% compared to the conventional cellar. The proportion of seafood with quality loss is less than 5%, while the traditional cellar quality loss is about 30-35% of the total catch.

The method of building storage tunnels using CPF materials will help overcome the disadvantages of traditional tunnels. PU foam, when sprayed on, will adhere to the bulkhead and inner surface of the hull, preventing water absorption and keeping it cold very well. The volume of ice carried is used up to 95% (for traditional cellars the percentage is about 60 - 70%). Fishermen can prolong their fishing time at sea but still ensure quality fresh fish salt thanks to these advantages.

This will be a model to help fishermen boldly invest in the application of advanced preservation technology in production. It will bring about high efficiency, and efficiently implement the marine exploitation development program.

Mr. Le Quoc Thanh, Director of the National Agricultural Extension Center, said that in the North Central region in general and Quang Tri province in particular, the National Agricultural Extension Center has deployed a series of models to help farmers develop and produce sustainably in most fields, including fishing. These are all the most advanced technologies, helping to increase productivity, reduce costs and increase economic efficiency.

For ships reaching out to sea, the National Agricultural Extension Center implements a model of a cellar to preserve caught seafood using Composite material. When there is a Composite tunnel, the seafood is better preserved, saving over 30% of the amount of ice. If done well, it is possible to reduce the cost of ice by nearly half on each sailing trip.

When it was recognized as technical progress by MARD, the National Agricultural Extension Center opened this project to benefit fishermen. The number of fishermen benefiting from this project is only a few households in each locality. More importantly, through this model, people will learn from each other and transfer knowledge to each other.

It can be seen that the spirit of the fishermen is very excited about the Composite storage tunnel. However, regarding capital issues, it is a very good thing that banks help fishermen with investment costs. Both fishermen and consumers benefit from this.