National Assembly delegates from Nghe An province debate on fisheries and seafood management
National Assembly delegates from Nghe An delegation proposed to properly evaluate efforts, reflect objectively and constructively to be able to remove the IUU yellow card.
On November 4, at the National Assembly House, chaired by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, the National Assembly held a plenary session in the hall to discuss the assessment of the results of the implementation of the 2024 socio-economic development plan; the planned socio-economic development plan for 2025 and many other important issues. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai chaired the meeting.
The delegation of Nghe An province was led by comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Head of the Central Economic Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council.
Delegate Pham Phu Binh - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, delegate of Nghe An province, spoke about the picture of Vietnam's fisheries and seafood management.
“It must be seen that with a coastline of more than 3,000 km, 28 out of 63 localities having sea, nearly 1 million fishermen with small-scale and spontaneous fishing practices, building a sustainable fishing practice and implementing all high-standard legal frameworks is not easy,” said the delegate of Nghe An.
However, the delegate affirmed: Combating IUU fishing has been identified by Vietnam as one of the top priorities right after the European Commission (EC) issued the "yellow card".
The Government has issued Decree No. 38/2021 replacing Decree 42/2019 on administrative sanctions in the fisheries sector; Decree No. 37/2024 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 26/2019 detailing a number of measures to implement the Fisheries Law. The legal framework against IUU fishing has been and is being completed according to the recommendations of the European Commission.
Regarding political commitment, on April 10, 2024, the Secretariat issued Directive No. 32 on strengthening the Party's leadership in combating IUU fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector - mobilizing the participation of the entire political system in this task.
Regarding enforcement, localities across the country have been making efforts to strengthen measures to register, inspect and license fishing vessels to thoroughly resolve violations related to IUU.
“Right in Kien Giang, which has the largest fishing fleet in the Cuu Long River Delta, there are more than 7,000 licensed fishing vessels. Of these, by September 2024, more than 3,600 vessels with a length of 15 meters or more had been equipped with a fishing vessel monitoring system (VMS),” the delegate cited, adding: “Although here and there, we are still seeing some violations reported - this also shows that we are doing a good job of monitoring and enforcing the law.”
Delegate Pham Phu Binh stated: The political determination and efforts from the central to local levels have been and are being implemented strongly and need to be properly recognized. Many independent experts assess that we are on the right track in managing IUU fishing.
“I propose that we properly evaluate these efforts, reflect objectively and constructively so that we can remove the IUU yellow card, build sustainable fisheries, protect coastal security and the safety of the country's marine ecosystem,” said the delegate from Nghe An.
Also during the working day, the National Assembly discussed the implementation of the Constitution; the implementation of laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the policy of adjusting the National Land Use Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050; and the policy of investing additional state capital at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB).
