Protecting aquatic resources is a community responsibility.

(Baonghean.vn)Currently, due to the development of boats and unreasonable exploitation, aquatic resources are increasingly declining, economic efficiency is low, directly affecting the lives of tens of thousands of fishermen.

At Nghi Thuy fishing port - Cua Lo town, we witnessed Mr. Binh's boat returning to port after a fishing trip. Today, his fleet caught nearly 7 tons of various types of fish, which was considered a successful fishing trip, but the crew members were still not happy, because more than half of the fish caught were only used as animal feed, sold at low prices, only a few thousand VND/kg. Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh, one of the fish buyers at Nghi Thuy fishing port, said: Every day she buys about 10 tons of fish, of which about 6 tons are imported for animal feed processing facilities. High-value fish species such as mackerel, scad, and scad... are becoming increasingly rare.

The primary cause is due to over-exploitation. The output in recent years has exceeded 50 thousand tons (over 10,000 tons more than the allowed). On the other hand, the whole province currently has 4,323 fishing vessels, of which nearly half are equipped with engines smaller than 20CV. This type of vessel only operates on the shore and inshore. In terms of industry structure, the whole province has about 650 - 700 vessels practicing gi ga towing. This is a profession that has a very negative impact on the environment and the industry recommends that it should not be developed. Nghe An has 2 spawning grounds for fish and shrimp in Dien Chau and Quynh Lap bays. Because most of the vessels focus on exploitation near the shore, along with non-compliance with regulations of the fisheries industry such as mesh size, type of craft, etc., the products obtained are mostly fish that are not yet old enough to be exploited. This explains why 50-60% of the seafood caught is of low value.

The use of explosives and electric shocks is a common phenomenon. Talking to us, Mr. Tran Duy Thanh - Head of Border Guard Station 148, said: The station is assigned to control 2 estuaries with more than 900 fishing vessels. Most of these vessels use explosives to exploit fish. Due to the sophisticated transportation and concealment, although the station has increased all inspection and control measures, the ship owners still bring explosives to sea. The station has organized many special projects, lying in ambush for months but still has no results. Talking about the harmful effects of mines, Mr. Thanh shared: A mine can cause damage within a range of dozens of square meters of water surface.

All living things in that area were destroyed. The number of fish caught was estimated to be only about 1/10. Since the beginning of the year, the station has discovered and handled 43 violating vehicles, paying 157 million VND to the State Treasury. A typical case is the arrest of Ho Xuan Phuong in Hamlet 7, Quynh Xuan, transporting 6 kg of explosives and 70 mine detonators on May 23. This is a very small part of the violations detected by the station. Mr. Nguyen Van Ke, Chairman of Tien Thuy Fisheries Association, also admitted that fishermen in his commune are still using mines to exploit seafood. And without it, they cannot go to sea, Mr. Ke affirmed with certainty.

After explosives, electric shock is now quite popularly used by people in Tinh Gia district, Thanh Hoa to exploit the sea of ​​Nghe An. On October 23, the fishing control ship VN 93969 KN coordinated with the border guards to patrol the sea area north of Nghe An, discovered and arrested 8 vehicles using electric shock to exploit seafood... Explosives, electric shocks, and toxic substances are strictly prohibited in accordance with the spirit of Directive 01 of the Prime Minister.

Faced with signs of decline in coastal aquatic resources, on October 10, 2011, the Provincial People's Committee issued Directive 26/CT-UBND to strengthen the protection of aquatic resources. The Directive also outlined the responsibilities of sectors, localities and tasks of functional agencies... Accordingly, the protection of aquatic resources must be the responsibility of the whole community.

To strengthen measures to protect aquatic resources, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has recently signed an agreement with Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee to divide the exploitation areas of each province to strengthen the responsibility for protection. Since 2008, with the help of the governmentCanada, the community-based fisheries management model has been deployed in Quynh Lap commune, Quynh Luu district. After 4 years of implementation, the model has been effective. According to Mr. Le Ba Van, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, the goal of the model is to promote the responsibility of collectives and individuals in protecting aquatic resources for sustainable development. Accordingly, exploitation groups have been formed, giving them the right to manage coastal waters. Reduce the intensity of coastal exploitation, limit inshore routes, and focus on converting to offshore occupations.

The project has focused on vocational training for 100% of fishermen in Quynh Lap. With the support of the project, fishermen here have focused on changing their occupations. Previously, the main occupation was fishing near the shore, but now people have focused on changing to offshore occupations. From 35 offshore vessels, by 2011, the whole commune had 120 vessels capable of going offshore, with new occupations such as trawling, crab casting, 4-pole and 2-pole fishing... there are only 20 offshore fishing vessels.

Because of promoting individual responsibility associated with the benefits they receive, awareness of protecting aquatic resources has been raised. People consider the sea area they are allocated as their "home field", so they have increased all protective measures, not allowing others to encroach. The effect is that aquatic resources are increasing, and people's lives are increasingly secure.

To implement Directive 26 of the Provincial People's Committee, from the results of the co-management model in Quynh Lap, in the near future, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will work with coastal localities to organize consultations to divide boundaries between districts and communes to enhance responsibility for joint protection and exploitation, associated with community interests. Build a unified management mechanism to improve the effectiveness of protecting aquatic resources.

Cong Sang