Binjiang Police Affa Chapter 726 - 493: Crazy!2

Chapter 726: Chapter 493: Crazy!_2

As far as I know, only four projects related to offshore fisheries have been undertaken in the province over the years. The first one is the offshore fishing cooperation project with Iran by the Provincial Overseas Fisheries Company, initiated in 1987. Our side provides fishing boats and labor, responsible for fishing and processing. The Iranian side provides fuel, water, and ice along with other port services, and the fish are sold to Iran, with Iran paying in US Dollar.

Due to the impact of the Iran-Iraq War, from 1991, Iran started paying us with a share of the catch instead of cash. Until this year, the Provincial Overseas Fisheries Company has sent out seven fleets, over six hundred people in total, earning more than five million US Dollars.

As for matters related to fish, one can find Salted Fish.

Mayor Qian nodded in satisfaction, signaling Han Yu to continue.

Mayor Qian, the second project is the one you just ntioned, the Dongqi Fisheries Company’s fishing cooperation project in Morocco. In fact, it was handled by the Binjiang City Offshore Fisheries Company, and Dongqi only constructed two fishing boats, dispatching twenty or so crew mbers.

"At least they can build offshore fishing boats!"

"They did build them, but they used soone else’s blueprints and encountered many technical issues during the process. They had to ask technicians from major fishing boat repair companies to help solve the problems. Purely from the shipbuilding perspective, the Dongqi Fishing Boat Repair Factory didn’t make any money."

Developing offshore fisheries isn’t like other sectors; one can’t just dive in headfirst.

Han Yu is not worried about these words reaching the ears of the Dongqi fisheries circle, he continued: "These two boats were put into operation for a year, caught about seven hundred tons of fish, resulting in total revenue of two hundred and ten million, and a profit of one hundred and sixty thousand US Dollars. Later, due to issues with the cooperation partners and the distance from the mainland making it difficult to supply boat parts and fishing nets, the boats had to be sold to a ship managent company. But regardless, it was an exploration, and it’s not easy for a county-level city to achieve even this."

Mayor Qian was genuinely unaware of these situations and asked in a low voice, "It only lasted a year, then it ended?"

"Just one year, since 1993 Dongqi has not been involved in offshore fishing again."

Han Yu glanced at his notebook, then continued: "The third one is our Binjiang City Offshore Fisheries Company’s cooperation project in the Philippines. The governnt of the Philippines restricts foreign fishing vessels from fishing in their waters, so this project involved Binjiang Offshore Fisheries Company chartering four 8105 type 500 horsepower fishing boats to the Philippines after retrofitting them.

The fourth and final project is the joint venture between the Provincial Overseas Fisheries Company and the Eastern Fisheries Company in Ecuador, forming the ’Far East Fisheries Company’ to fish for tuna using enclosures. However, the progress has been slow due to external factors."

Mayor Qian couldn’t believe this was true, he hesitated for quite a while before asking incredulously, "Xiao Han, are you saying there are only these four offshore fishing projects throughout the province?"

"That’s right, and none of them are very smooth."

"What’s not smooth about them?"

"First, the economic benefits are not ideal. To put it bluntly, there’s a lot of publicity but not much profit. Take the Iran project, for example. Since 1991 when the paynt thod shifted to sharing the catch, our foreign exchange earnings decreased, and transporting fish back to the mainland not only incurs transportation costs but also involves significant sales risks."

Han Yu paused briefly, continuing, "Then there’s the issue with the cooperation models; among the three projects that were actually undertaken, both the Binjiang City Fisheries Company and Dongqi Fisheries Company’s Morocco projects were actually introduced or subcontracted by the Dalian Aquatic Group. They had to pay managent fees to both the foreign joint venture and the Dalian Aquatic Group, and when it was all added up, they barely broke even."

"All the profits went to others!"

"That’s why Dongqi stopped after a year."

Han Yu confird again, adding: "The Provincial Overseas Fisheries Company’s Iran project is part of the East Sea District External Economic and Technical Cooperation Company. It’s said that kickbacks from the foreign side and managent fees collected by the East Sea side make up fifteen percent of the total revenue. That’s fifteen percent of the revenue, not the profit; it’s unsustainable!"

Looks like it’s all just making a noise without making money!

Mayor Qian no longer envied Dongqi for being able to participate in the offshore fisheries developnt conference organized by Binjiang City, and watching Han Yu, he asked, "How is the developnt of offshore fisheries in the East Sea?"

"The developnt in the East Sea is quite good. I went there recently to borrow a ship. The Fishery Administration Dock of the East Sea District Fishery Bureau is located on Fuxing Island in the East Sea. Fuxing Island is the main base of the East Sea Fishery Company, and I took the opportunity to visit it, which was truly eye-opening."

"How eye-opening?"

"They had established an offshore fisheries preparatory group as early as 1985, and set up the offshore fishing company in April the sa year, invested four hundred and ninety thousand US Dollars, and imported a three thousand-ton class offshore fishing and processing vessel from the Federal Germany (West Germany)."

"They invested four hundred and ninety thousand US Dollars back in 1985!" Mayor Qian was shocked, his face filled with disbelief.

"That ship is still advanced nowadays, capable of fishing and processing simultaneously. This processing is not just about freezing fish and packing but also processes fish roe and even fish al."

Han Yu looked at his notebook, then added, "That ship, known as the ’Pioneer’, was initially sent to the seamount fishing grounds northwest of Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean for trawl fishing operations after being imported back to the country. In 1992, it went fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk and brought up tens of tons of cod in one haul. Cod is considered a luxury fish favored by people in developed western countries, and they could export it right after catching to earn foreign exchange."

Vice Mayor Zhang, curious, asked, "Comrade Xiao Han, do you think we can develop offshore fisheries and go to the high seas for fishing like the East Sea Fishery Company?"