No formality or ‘just to cope’

Introduction:

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said: "It is vital to realize that combating IUU fishing is not just an act of formality or ‘just to cope’, but it is for the benefit of the nation, the interests of the people, preserving the country's image, and fulfilling international commitments, holding true to the statement that Vietnam is a responsible member to the international community. This includes protecting the marine environment and marine ecosystems.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, ministries, agencies and localities, together with fishermen, are making efforts to implement "180 days of action" against IUU fishing. Vietnam Agriculture News had recorded this problem in many localities throughout the country.

Synchronous implementation of multiple solutions

Binh Dinh is one of the provinces with the largest fishing fleet in Vietnam with 5,963 boats and 41,934 workers engaged in fishing at sea. After 5 years of implementing solutions to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, fishing activities in Binh Dinh have gradually come into order.

The marking of fishing vessels is carried out by the relevant authorities in accordance with regulations, and the fishing vessel data is regularly updated on VN-Fishbase. 100% of fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more operating on the high seas have been installed with a vessel monitoring system (VMS). Binh Dinh also established three IUU teams at three fishing ports to check the situation of ships entering and leaving the wharf and handle violations, and strictly implement the certification of the fishery product’s origin.

Binh Dinh People's Committee has issued a regulation on the management, exploitation and use of information and data in the province’s VMS. The provincial authorities also develops the procedure for receiving information and processing cruise monitoring data of fishing vessels in Binh Dinh province that cross the permitted boundary at sea, do not maintain operation or disable cruise monitoring equipment during operation, and at the same time decentralize the fishing vessel tracking system for 14 accounts to monitor and coordinate in handling violations according to regulations.

In the case of Phu Yen province, Mr. Nguyen Tri Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said, “After 5 years of implementing recommendations and solutions on IUU, Phu Yen has so far achieved many remarkable results.”

641 ships with a length of 15m or more have installed VMS, reaching the rate of 97.86% of the total number of Phu Yen’s fishing vessels. 14 fishing vessels that have not installed VMS have been included in the list of fishing vessels with a high risk of violating regulations on illegal fishing. This is considered a countermeasure of the local authorities to manage and not allow fishing vessels to leave the port without installing VMS.

Phu Yen Sub-department of Fisheries regularly joins hands with functional agencies and coastal localities to carry out the task of inspecting illegal fishing at sea, coordinate with the Border Guard Command, the Provincial Police, the Coast Guard Region III, Region IV to closely monitor and supervise the activities of fishing vessels at sea through the VMS, thereby promptly exchange information and strictly handle cases of violation.

Close coordination with functional sectors to prevent IUU fishing

In Khanh Hoa, the IUU Steering Committee has issued over 245 documents directing units to implement solutions to combat IUU fishing in the area, promote communication and dissemination of legal regulations on anti-IUU fishing to ship owners, captains and fishing communities. All fishing vessels operating in the far seas have signed a commitment not to encroach on foreign waters.

Up to the present date, 100% of Khanh Hoa's fishing vessels have registered and fully updated data on the VN-fishbase portal, and 3,181 ships (99.53%) have been granted fishing licenses.

98.7% of fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more in Khanh Hoa have installed VMS. The fishing vessel monitoring station under Phu Yen Sub-department of Fisheries has been invested in equipped. The staff is on duty 24/7 to monitor fishing activities at sea as well as maintain communication with the vessel owner's family and crew.

Since then, the authorities can promptly give out warnings to fishing vessels operating in the border areas between Vietnam and other countries in the region.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Toan, Deputy Director of Quang Nam Sub-Department of Fisheries, following the recommendations of the EC, Quang Nam province has strengthened the inspection and supervision of fishing vessels as well as the fishing volume loaded and unloaded at the port, coordinated with relevant units to inspect fishing vessels and handle violations, updating data on monitoring of seafood output unloading at ports into the national fisheries database.

“Over the past year Quang Ngai province has actively promoted information work on IUU prevention. Accordingly, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has organized 10 education and dissemination conferences with more than 650 participants. We also compile and print 6,000 leaflets on fisheries law and have them distributed to fishing ports and border checkpoints to spread the information to fishermen,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi, Director of Quang Ngai Sub-Department of Fisheries.