The offshore fishing sector faces a shortage of skilled maritime workers

An old fisherman Bui Thanh Ninh, owner of eight offshore fishing boats in Tam Quan Bac commune, Hoai Nhon District, the central province of Binh Dinh said that the number of offshore fishing boats grew rapidly, leading to the shortage of maritime workers.

“Unable to find professional maritime workers, ship owners go to the countryside to hire young farmers,” he said.

Farmers who do maritime work usually get advance payment for each trip of VND 3-4 million, lower than that of professional maritime workers.

“The rapid growth of offshore fishing vessels has led to a shortage of fishery workers. There is no way to operate a ship without labor, so shipowners have to hire farmers to do marine work. Farmers are just getting used to plowing and hoes so they are usually not good at working on a fishing boat.

Their performance is not productive,” said Ninh.

Old fisherman Bui Thanh Ninh said that if someone failed to do his job smoothly, the whole work chain on a fishing boat would be affected.

“A professional fishery worker can work continuously for many days. For a non-professional worker, it is impossible. Professional fishery workers can work hard during the day. On the next day, they meet another stream of fish, they can continue to work. However, farmers find it difficult to continue work like that,” Ninh said.

Tran Quang Kien, Chairman of Quang Nam Fisheries Association, admitted that the level of maritime workers in the province was still low. Some can meet requirements to work on small vessels but when shifting to larger vessels, they faced difficulties adapting immediately.

“Currently, the fishing professions with a long tradition in Quang Nam, low-skilled workers could do. However, for new and modern fishing occupations, fishermen must have a certain level and cannot rely on traditional experiences. For example, must have the knowledge to use electrical and electronic equipment; especially complex operations such as hydraulic winch construction, radio equipment systems, use of short and long waves for communication and operate navigation systems, " said Kien.

In Phu Yen province, the knowledge of marine workers is mainly accumulated through production practice, thanks to mutual learning without any official training in fishing techniques and product preservation, so fishermen's skills are still modest.

Due to the process of urbanisation in coastal areas, fishermen's children participate in many other work besides offshore fishing.

Labour on tuna fishing vessels is increasingly lacking and weak, which is also a problem that needs to be solved in the coming time. 

“Maritimes labor is a specific profession, requiring good health, skills and male workers are preferred. The shortage of maritime workers causes some ship owners to reduce the number of fishing trips in the year, and the fishing output in each voyage may decrease. Lack of labour also increases pressure on other workers on the ship because they have to work overtime, so they cannot achieve high efficiency”, said Dao Quang Minh, Director of Phu Yen Fisheries Sub-Department.