Fishermen struggle to return loans due to fishing boats unused

Many fishing boats built with preferential loans in the central province of Nghe An are unused or operated ineffectively, thus boat owners face difficulties in returning the loans.

Under the Government’s Decree, 67/2014/ND-CP on policies for fisheries development,  fishermen in the central province of Nghe An received preferential loans to build 104 fishing boats including 90 wood-hulled fishing boats,  9 steel-hulled ones and 5 composite-hulled boats.

In 2020, Nghe An’s fishing catches reached 179,000 tonnes, double the total fish catch of 2014 and helped improve the income and livelihood of fishermen.

Besides economic benefits, decree 67/2014/ND-CP also help protect Viet Nam’s sea and islands sovereignty. This is evidenced that in 2014, only one fishing boat from the province worked at Hoang Sa and Truong Sa fishing grounds but now, 203 fishing boats usually work there. They have made 662 fishing trips to the fishing grounds.

However, according to the province’s Aquaculture production Department, only 31 fishing boats built with preferential loans are operated effectively and the boat owners could return loans and interests on time.

As of February 28, 2021, 104 boat owners got loans of VND 860 billion.

According to statistics, three of the owners made final settlement after their boats had problems. The outstanding loans of the other 101 ship owners are over VND 660 billion, of which overdue debts are over VND 121 billion and unpaid interests are over VND 27 billion.

On March 29, Nghe An Province People’s Committee organised a meeting seeking solutions to difficulties when implementing decree 67.

Local authorities and commercial banks would jointly call on the boat owners to return loans and fulfil their financial responsibilities.

The province’s agriculture department and aquaculture division would further train fishermen in operating kinds of fishing boats.

They would oversee and inspect the maintenance and technical checks for the boats.

Boat owners who delay paying loans could be sued but local authorities asked for careful considerations.

If they could continue offshore fishing trips, they would get income and have money to return loans.