Urge and review compliance with regulations on IUU fishing

Members of the IUU Steering Committee of Nghe An province follow the online conference. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Opening the conference, on behalf of the National IUU Steering Committee, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized the significance of inspection and progress towardsremove yellow cardfor our country's fisheries. In fact, to manage fishing activities according to IUU regulations and contribute to removing the European Commission's Yellow Card, the National Assembly and the Government have issued many documents and solutions for direction and management, and have initially created changes in fishing activities.

However, from the actual inspection in some provinces and the increasing requirements, our country's seafood catching activities still have some limitations and shortcomings when the IUU violation situation still exists, many fishing vessels still violate foreign waters, and the fishing logs and notebooks are not fully recorded. Some fishing vessels have not fully installed VMS monitoring equipment or have installed it but do not maintain the signal or frequently disconnect...

If the above situation continues, Vietnamese seafood will not only not be able to remove the Yellow Card but also face the risk of being fined with a Red Card, which means Vietnamese seafood will not be able to be exported to large, reputable markets such as Europe and North America. Localities must strengthen their review and coordinate with each other in issuing certificates of traceability for seafood exported to Europe.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien shared

Propaganda for offshore fishermen on fishing in accordance with IUU regulations and timely detection and reporting of illegal fishing to protect aquatic resources. Photo: Nguyen Hai

The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development requested the IUU Steering Committees of coastal provinces and cities to review documents, data, and content to serve the European Commission's working group scheduled to visit Vietnam for inspection from October 20-28; ministries, branches, and localities to coordinate in connecting inspection data, handling of VMS violations, the number of fishing vessels entering ports, etc.

Representatives of the Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and members of the provincial IUU Steering Committee reported and updated the province's compliance with IUU regulations to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In Nghe An, a report from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that, besides positive changes, the situation of fishing by fishermen according to IUU regulations still has some points that need attention and correction.

That is, the rate of vessels not installed with VMS voyage monitoring equipment in the province is still high, different from the data of the National Fishing Vessel Monitoring System; the statistics of catch output are still loose, not ensuring accuracy; the situationVMS connection signal disconnectionThere are still many fishing boats on the shore, not fishing, not maintaining signals, or transferring but not completing the procedures to change the name, deleting VMS on the system...

Nghe An is one of the provinces actively participating in IUU inspections following the European Commission's recommendation to remove the Yellow Card for fisheries. In the photo: Fisheries control forces check the fishing documents of a fishing boat in the coastal waters of the province. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Based on the situation report and proposals of ministries and localities, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien concluded to assign specific tasks to members of the National IUU Steering Committee for implementation; at the same time promptly report to competent authorities to advise on measures to urge and handle according to regulations./.