It is necessary to soon issue a set of standards for equipment to monitor fishing vessel journeys.
(Baonghean.vn) - Early issuance of a set of standards for fishing vessel monitoring equipment is a recommendation of Nghe An province at the national online conference to deploy the Action Plan against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).
On the morning of December 23, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a national online conference to deploy the Action Plan against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).
Chairing the conference from Hanoi was comrade Le Minh Hoan - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; also attending were representatives of ministries and branches who are members of the IUU Steering Committee and the 28 coastal provinces and cities.
At Nghe An bridge, the representative of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development chaired the conference on behalf of the Provincial People's Committee. Also attending were representatives of relevant departments and branches.
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Delegates attending the Conference at Nghe An bridge. Photo: Nguyen Hai |
At the conference, Minister Le Minh Hoan, on behalf of the Central IUU Steering Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, emphasized that the conference aimed to proactively deploy activities.against illegal fishing, not reporting and not following regulations; at the same time, urging ministries, branches and localities to prepare to work with the 4th inspection delegation of the European Commission, expected to visit Vietnam in April 2023.
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Nghe An Fisheries Surveillance Force propagates and reminds fishermen to fish in the right waters. Photo: Nguyen Hai |
The conference also pointed out the process of solving this problem, for example, in October 2022, during the third inspection and working trip to Vietnam, the European Commission concluded and made a number of recommendations on the situation of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Then, during the working trip to Europe, the Prime Minister of Vietnam also raised the issue, presented Vietnam's views and proposals to the European Commission for consideration.remove yellow card for Vietnamese seafood; opinion on the European Commission continuing to make 6 recommendations on weaknesses and limitations in the management of fishing activities, traceability of aquatic products in Vietnam, the situation of fishing vessels violating regulations going to other countries to fish; the European Commission's viewpoint is to be uncompromising with these violations and give Vietnam a deadline to fix them...
Therefore, the Prime Minister requested the National IUU Steering Committee chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop a 180-day Action Plan to remove the European yellow card, requesting ministries, branches and localities to really get involved, strictly manage fishing activities from land to sea; strictly handle to ensure fairness with fishermen and localities that comply with IUU well; at the same time contribute to protecting aquatic resources, supporting the sustainable development of the fishing industry.
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Comrade Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on behalf of the People's Committee of Nghe An province reported at the conference. Photo: Nguyen Hai |
At the meeting, representatives of the Directorate of Fisheries, relevant ministries and provincial People's Committees reported on the results of propaganda work, the situation of violations and the results of handling in localities and sea areas. In addition, the conference also pointed out that the effectiveness of communication work for people is still limited, not reflecting the nature and message of the European Commission; thereby suggesting that localities need to take drastic action and impose more severe penalties. Localities also requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to soon issue common standards on VMS journey monitoring equipment to limit the situation where fishermen use the excuse that the equipment is not synchronized, leading to damage, loss of connection signal and difficulty for authorities to impose penalties. It is necessary to allocate investment resources to upgrade ports and fishing wharves that meet the conditions for designation and announcement to grant licenses and certificates of origin to create favorable conditions for fishermen to comply with regulations...
Attending the conference, representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An, based on the report on the current status of the province's fisheries, highly agreed with the proposal to soon issue a set of standards for voyage monitoring equipment on fishing vessels. From there, it was proposed to have sanctions against units providing poor quality equipment; there were regulations and sanctions forcing mechanical inspection units to update fishing vessel inspection data to the database system of the Directorate of Fisheries for monitoring and supervision.
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Nghe An Fisheries Surveillance Force propagandized, reminded and punished a fishing boat owner in Dien Chau for fishing in the wrong sea area stated on the license. Photo: Nguyen Hai |
In Nghe An, recently, along with issuing many leadership and directive documents; at the same time issuing mechanisms and policies on supporting the installation of VMS journey monitoring equipment on fishing vessels, the authorities have increased inspection and reminders of violations of VMS disconnection. Based on inspection and monitoring of VMS, Nghe An authorities have identified fishing vessels that crossed the permitted boundary line at sea and the number of vessels that lost VMS signal for more than 10 days at sea.
In 2022, implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, Nghe An Border Guard Command fined 15 fishing vessels violating foreign waters with a fine of 375 million VND; in inland waters, administrative fines were imposed on 69 cases/103 vessels with a fine of 728.5 million VND; local authorities imposed a fine of 3.5 million VND. The Department of Fisheries fined 68 cases/67 vessels for illegal fishing with a fine of 217 million VND...
Concluding the working session, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan accepted the recommendations of ministries, branches and localities to soon issue a suitable legal framework for monitoring and management. However, the Minister also reiterated the European Commission's recommendation of zero tolerance for violations; at the same time, he emphasized the Prime Minister's guiding viewpoint of requesting ministries, branches and localities to promote a sense of responsibility, focus on the work and have a specific plan to implement the 180-day peak action program to remove the European Commission's yellow card.
