Combating IUU fishing and sustainably protecting aquatic resources

IUU fishing is a threat

According to the EC, IUU is fishing activities by vessels without permission or with permission but violating fishing regulations, aiming to bring greater profits than fishing in accordance with regulations on sustainable fishing.
IUU fishing is the greatest threat to the maintenance and conservation of aquatic resources and marine biodiversity, causing serious environmental and socio-economic impacts worldwide.

IUU fishing is estimated to account for nearly 20% of the world’s total annual seafood production. The majority of IUU fishing occurs in developing countries due to a lack of control mechanisms and traceability solutions.

The EU is the world's largest seafood import market (about 20 billion Euros) and is also a potential market for seafood products from IUU fishing. Therefore, the EC has issued regulations on IUU to prevent products from IUU fishing from entering the EU, demonstrating its responsibility to the international community. Accordingly, seafood products imported into the EU must have a fishing certificate.

The competent authority of the country of the fishing vessel must certify that the fishery products caught on board comply with the provisions of law and international regulations on the management and conservation of fishery resources. This certification is issued by the competent authority and applies to all products, whether processed or unprocessed.

Furthermore, for countries that still commit IUU fishing violations, the EC warns with a “yellow card” so that the country can take measures to improve and correct the situation according to recommendations. If the situation does not improve, it will be punished with a “red card” - that is, a ban on exporting seafood products to the EU.

Seafood products exported to the EU from countries with yellow cards are subject to 100% control, so the import time is long and costs are high. At the same time, the country's image is affected in most markets in the world because this list is made public by the EU.

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In summary, fishing by unregistered vessels, without a license or violating regulations on resource protection according to the laws of the host country or of the regional management organization, regulations of international law in all sea areas or not reporting or reporting incorrectly to the competent authority of the country or management organization is IUU fishing.

Provisions of the Law on Fisheries

Compared with Vietnamese law, specifically according to the 2017 Fisheries Law, Clause 1, Article 60 stipulates that acts considered illegal exploitation include: Exploiting aquatic resources without a license; Exploiting aquatic resources in prohibited areas, during the prohibited exploitation period; Exploiting and transporting prohibited aquatic resources; Exploiting aquatic species with smaller sizes than prescribed; Using prohibited fishing techniques and gear; Illegal exploitation of aquatic species on the List of endangered, precious and rare aquatic species; Illegal exploitation of aquatic resources in sea areas under the management of regional, national and other territorial fisheries management organizations; Exploiting aquatic resources exceeding the output of each species, exploiting in the wrong area, or exceeding the time limit stated in the license; Concealing, falsifying or destroying evidence of violations of regulations related to the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources; Obstructing or opposing competent persons from inspecting and supervising compliance with regulations on the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources; Transporting or assisting vessels identified as having engaged in illegal fishing, except in cases of force majeure; Not equipping or inadequately equipping or failing to operate communication equipment and voyage monitoring equipment as prescribed.

There are also the following acts: Not having a Certificate of food safety qualified facility as prescribed; Temporarily importing, re-exporting, temporarily exporting, re-importing, transferring, transiting through the territory of Vietnam aquatic products, aquatic products originating from illegal fishing; Not recording, recording incompletely, incorrectly, not submitting fishing logs, not reporting as prescribed; Using fishing vessels of no nationality or of a non-member country to illegally exploit aquatic products in international waters under the management authority of regional fisheries management organizations; Using fishing vessels to exploit aquatic products not in accordance with regulations on exploitation and protection of aquatic resources in international waters not under the management authority of regional fisheries management organizations.

Thus, legally, the Fisheries Law is fully consistent with the European criteria for combating IUU fishing.

The issue of protecting aquatic resources is an urgent need because the fishing industry is really unsustainable. According to the investigation of the Marine Research Institutes, in the period 2000 - 2005, the marine reserves of Vietnam's sea were about 4.82 million tons, the allowable exploitation capacity was about 2.1 - 2.4 million tons/year.

However, by the 2016-2020 period, according to the survey, Vietnam's marine seafood reserves were only 3.95 million tons, down 9.5% compared to the 2011-2015 period and 22.1% compared to the 2000-2005 period, in which bottom seafood reserves declined faster. Meanwhile, in 2020, the exploited output reached 3.8 million tons, exceeding the allowable exploitation output by 60%.

The above consequences have caused new consequences, which is that the exploitation efficiency of fishermen is decreasing. According to statistics, in 1985, the average exploitation output per CV of the average vessel capacity nationwide was 1.1 tons, but by 2019 it was only 0.26 tons/CV.

Nghe An is no exception. In 1989, the average output per boat CV was 0.83 tons, but by 2021 it was only 0.289 tons/CV.

It can be said that the recent increase in fishing output is due to increased exploitation (number of boats, increased capacity). This has resulted in a decrease in fishermen's income. And this is one of the underlying causes of illegal fishing (IUU).

Besides, although we have completed all the legal requirements and have high determination, in practice, there have been many shortcomings in the past, so compared to the Philippines and Thailand, the time for Europe to issue us a "yellow card" is longer.

Nghe An cares about protecting aquatic resources

Nghe An has 82 km of coastline with 5 estuaries. Located at the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, the fishing industry is quite developed and is among the largest in the northern provinces. Currently, the whole province has 3,614 fishing vessels. Of which, the number of fishing vessels subject to registration (with a maximum length of 6m or more) by October 18, 2023 is 2,717, of which 2,470 have been registered (reaching 90.91%).

By October 18, 2023, the province will have over 16,660 workers in the fisheries sector. Of these, 8,408 will be workers in offshore fisheries, 3,109 will be workers in offshore fisheries, and 5,143 will be workers in coastal fisheries.

Every year, the whole province exploits about 200,000 tons of seafood of all kinds.

In recent times, the protection of aquatic resources in Nghe An has been strongly directed by the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee. Many solutions have been implemented such as policies to support fishermen in installing marine equipment (journey monitoring, fish finders, long-range radios, etc.), support for restructuring of vessels, changing occupations, etc. Management has been strengthened in terms of registration, inspection, and fisheries inspection, etc.

However, there are still many issues that need to be resolved such as: Production exceeding the permitted exploitation capacity, reduced exploitation productivity, illegal exploitation, incorrect exploitation logs, unregistered small boats... Especially the issue of converting fishermen from fishing to other occupations to reduce pressure.

To protect aquatic resources for sustainable aquaculture development and at the same time promote the removal of the EU's "yellow card", it is necessary to pay more attention to the following issues:

- Further promote the propaganda work for all fishermen as well as cadres at all levels about the importance of protecting aquatic resources and combating illegal fishing (IUU) for the long-term livelihoods as well as the lives and incomes of fishermen. This must be considered a task arising from an urgent need arising from within, not just a task to remove the EU's "yellow card" warning.

- Close coordination between forces: fisheries control, border guards, coast guard, fishing ports, local authorities... to continue to improve management measures, as well as solutions to combat IUU fishing. Strictly punish illegal fishing violations, countermeasures in monitoring journeys, fishing logs,... Prosecute typical cases to have deterrent measures and set an example.

- Completely resolve the number of unregistered small boats (mainly in coastal areas), the number of ships without navigation equipment (mainly in groups of ships under repair).

- Early application of information technology in digitizing fishing logs (currently being tested in some provinces) and in tracing the origin of aquatic products to facilitate fishermen's operations at sea. In particular, application of information technology to connect management with fishing ports nationwide, first of all provinces with boats docking at Nghe An and provinces with boats docking at Nghe An.

- It is necessary to issue policies to support fishermen soon, especially supporting fishermen to change jobs from the fishing industry, supporting fishermen when seasonal fishing is banned, providing vocational training for fishermen (fishing, aquaculture, processing, services, industry, information technology use...), supporting labor export...

- Continue to promote solutions to link exploitation with protection of aquatic resources. In particular, there is a plan to immediately implement Decision 389 dated April 9, 2024 of the Prime Minister on "Approval of the planning for protection and exploitation of aquatic resources for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050". In which it is necessary to focus on the consistent idea of ​​the planning: reduce exploitation, increase marine aquaculture and conserve marine resources!

Exploitation and protection of aquatic resources to develop the fisheries sector in a transparent, effective, sustainable and responsible manner is our urgent and long-term task. The fisheries sector has made many contributions to the socio-economic development of the country as well as Nghe An province, however, control is not good, efficiency and sustainability are still low.

Uncle Ho taught: Our silver sea is owned by our people! When the people are given ownership, the authorities at all levels and functional agencies do a good job of management and control, the sea will certainly be protected, and fishing grounds will be exploited and preserved in a transparent, responsible, sustainable and effective manner.