Tran Hong Tho, Captain of fishing boat QNg 90617 TS.
At 3am on April 2, when his ship was operating in the Paracel Islands, he was suddenly attacked and sunk by Chinese law enforcement vessel 4301. After returning safely to the mainland, he and other fishermen continued to head out to the sea despite China’s illegal fishing ban.
Ly Son Island district has over 500 offshore fishing vessels regularly fishing on the two traditional fishing grounds of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. Despite being constantly attacked by Chinese ships, fishermen from the An Vinh and An Hai fisheries unions still head out to sea and affirm Vietnam’s sovereignty over the waters.
China has unilaterally imposed a no-fishing zone stretching from the North China Sea to 12 degrees north latitude, including part of the Gulf of Tonkin and the Paracel Islands belonging to Vietnam. Quang Ngai fishermen, however, consider this regulation to be worthless.
Most of Quang Ngai’s fishing grounds are in the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos, which have been traditional fishing grounds for Quang Ngai fishermen for hundreds of years./.
