Hundreds of fishing boats in Nghe An lost their journey monitoring signals for more than 10 days.

According to the Department of Fisheries, after receiving support from the province to install vessel monitoring equipment (VMS) on fishing vessels, by mid-November 2021, 1,132 out of a total of 1,182 fishing vessels with the longest length of over 15 m as prescribed had completed the installation of the equipment.

According to regulations, fishing vessels must maintain VMS signals 24/7 when going to sea. However, through monitoring by the Shore Station and the fishing vessel monitoring system of the Directorate of Fisheries, out of a total of 1,132 vessels installed with VMS, only 968 vessels maintain VMS signals, while 358 fishing vessels of Nghe An province have lost signals for more than 10 days, accounting for 31%.

Of the 50 ships that have not yet installed VMS, 2 are leased to others, 2 are undergoing conversion procedures, 2 are subject to loans under Decree 67/CP and were confiscated by the Bank, and 44 shore-based ships are not in production or waiting to be sold.

(Source: Shore Station, Nghe An Fisheries Department)

Checking and reminding fishermen to fish in coastal waters. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Of the total 358 fishing vesselsVMS signal lossOver 10 days, 164 devices have been cut off or stopped from operating, so the Directorate of Fisheries has listed them as not yet installed. However, through verification and investigation by Nghe An Fisheries Sub-Department, 89 VMS Movimar devices were damaged and there were no spare parts for repair or replacement; 74 devices were removed because the fee was too high so fishermen did not pay the fee and 1 device was synchronized with data in the wrong management area by the supplier.

Inspecting and arresting a Thanh Hoa fishing boat violating regulations on licensing procedures for coastal fishing boats. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Based on data synthesis and direction from the Directorate of Fisheries, Nghe An has processed and issued warnings and requests for ship owners to correct violations against 353/358 fishing vessels that violated VMS connection.

Representatives of the Directorate of Fisheries and the Department of Exploitation check the records of VMS equipment at Quynh Phuong fishing port. Photo: Nguyen Hai

At a recent meeting with the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Tran Dinh Luan - Director General of the Directorate of Fisheries emphasized that the requirement to maintain VMS connection is a condition for tracing the origin of exploited seafood and strengthening records.remove EC yellow card.

Therefore, in the coming time, along with increasing propaganda for fishermen about the practical significance of maintaining VMS signal connection, it is recommended that Nghe An province check andpunish fishing vesselsintentionally interruptedconnected and were warned many times. Recently, although the provincial authorities have issued warnings to vessels that disconnected from VMS for more than 10 days, they have not yet penalized any fishing vessels.