Launching a peak period of inspection and strictly handling all violations of IUU fishing

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh affirmed that removing the yellow card and absolutely not allowing the EC to issue a “red card” is very urgent. Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

The meeting was connected online to the commune level of 28 coastal provinces and cities. At the Nghe An bridge, comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired.

There is change but it is slow.

Reporting on the results of the fight against IUU fishing, Director General of the Directorate of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan said that the total number of fishing vessels nationwide is currently 91,716. Up to now, the installation of voyage monitoring equipment (VMS) on fishing vessels has made progress, reaching 95.27%, an increase of more than 5% compared to before.

“Law enforcement forces at sea have increased patrols, inspections, and controls; especially in key sea areas,” said Mr. Tran Dinh Luan. Since the fourth quarter of 2021, nearly 80,000 fishing vessels have been inspected and controlled.

On September 20, the National Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing held its 6th meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, Head of the Steering Committee. Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Law enforcement forces at sea have deployed many solutions such as maintaining over 30 ships, using drones for patrolling and control; making a list of fishing vessels at high risk of violations for monitoring and supervision... Localities such as Quang Ngai, Tien Giang, Khanh Hoa have done well, significantly reducing fishing vessel violations; especially Phu Yen, from 2021 to now, no violations have been detected.

Comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the Nghe An bridge point.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien added that the legal framework and basic policy mechanisms are complete; however, there are still some shortcomings and inadequacies in the implementation process. There are still cases of fishing vessels violating foreign waters.

Talking about fishing port inspections and fleet management, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that he had looked at many logbooks and found that the logbooks were sketchy, in some cases almost nothing was recorded. "Without logbooks, it is very difficult to trace the origin."

Ships have VMS installed but the connection is not continuous and regular, "sometimes it is blamed on the equipment, sometimes it is blamed on the weather". Mr. Phung Duc Tien also assessed that the handling of administrative violations is still inadequate. "Provinces do not enforce the law evenly, some provinces make records, some provinces call to remind, some provinces impose fines. Therefore, there is a situation where ships from one province run to another province". Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that the Ministry is reviewing, amending and perfecting Decree No. 42/2019/ND-CP, which proposes that the coast guard has the right to impose fines.

Noting that there are still fishing boats violating foreign waters, Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Binh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, stated that there should be strong sanctions and strict handling of this behavior. "The captain knows clearly where there are lots of fish, where our waters are, where foreign waters are. Currently, the punishment for the captain is not enough of a deterrent. In some countries, the main punishment is the captain, some countries impose prison sentences, while fishermen are only fined." Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Binh also hopes that localities will take stronger action.

The meeting was connected online to the commune level of 28 coastal provinces and cities. Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Tell the past timeNo fishing boats in the province have been detained by foreign countries. Mr. Le Duc Giang, Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, shared his experience. The province has required fishing boats to install navigation devices and support telecommunication subscribers for 3 years. Currently, 100% of fishing boats have installed the devices.

The province also classifies for review, requires vessels at risk of violations to sign a commitment, and resolutely does not allow fishing vessels that do not ensure equipment installation to go to sea; in addition, it regularly monitors, propagates and encourages fishermen.

In addition to the results achieved, the Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa People's Committee said that there are still some limitations. Although the equipment is installed, there are still cases of fishing boats disconnecting the equipment or installing it on other boats. Investment in fishing port infrastructure is still stuck. Besides, there are problems in determining maritime boundaries for punishing fishing boats violating foreign waters.

Sharing this view, to minimize the situation of fishermen violating the law, the representative of Phu Yen province said that the Central Government and localities need to promote policies and solutions to change jobs for fishermen, aiming to develop the model of "sea farming" and "shore farming".

Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Binh said that stronger sanctions are needed for captains of violating ships. Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Dinh Van Thieu said that the province also faced some difficulties and problems like many other provinces, which is the situation where some fishing boats installed equipment but deliberately disconnected, making management very difficult. In the coming time, the province proposed that the Central Government promote projects on fisheries centers.

Opinions suggest that it is necessary to investigate, handle, and punish acts of intentional acts or organizations and individuals who broker or collude to bring Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen to illegally exploit seafood in foreign waters.

Establish an interdisciplinary team immediately

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh affirmed that removing the yellow card and absolutely not allowing the EC to withdraw the “red card” is very urgent, of special significance to the lives of fishermen, the seafood export industry as well as the reputation and national brand in the international arena.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Party and State leaders are very concerned about this issue, and have had many meetings and discussions with senior leaders of the European Union about Vietnam's commitment, efforts and determination in combating IUU fishing; requesting the EC to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnamese seafood products. The Government and the Prime Minister have issued instructions and directives to implement measures to resolve this issue.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the results achieved have improved compared to before, such as the management of the fleet has gradually become more systematic; quotas for fishing licenses have been allocated in offshore, inshore and coastal areas. The VMS system has been well deployed to control vessels operating at sea. Law enforcement forces at sea have increased patrols, preventing many fishing vessels from violating foreign waters.

However, the results achieved have not met the requirements. The granting of fishing licenses to the fleet has not met the requirements (96.7% for vessels 15 m or longer, for vessels under 15 m only 46.6% have been granted).

The installation of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) in 2022 is still slow (only increased by 5%). In particular, there are still cases of fishing vessels violating the regulations on seafood exploitation in foreign waters. There are still many problems in tracing the origin of seafood.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, this is a big problem. If it is not resolved, not only will the yellow card not be removed, but there is also a risk of being raised to a "red card" warning.

Local leaders speak at the online television bridge. Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

“You have presented the basic legal regulations in full, and the policies and mechanisms on resources have been given attention,” said the Deputy Prime Minister. The implementation of the organization by localities, especially at the grassroots level, plays a decisive role. Localities need to urgently direct organizations, facilities, teams and individual fishermen to overcome the shortcomings as soon as possible.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested to immediately establish interdisciplinary delegations, at the central level chaired by the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and at the local level led by the leaders of the Provincial People's Committees, to conduct specific inspections, promptly detect and strictly handle violations of regulations on combating IUU fishing.

Coast guard, border guard, fisheries surveillance, and local police forces have stepped up patrols, inspections, and handling of violations at sea and at fishing ports. At the same time, information and communication activities have been stepped up to help fishermen understand the risks and harms, thereby raising awareness in combating IUU fishing.

In the long term, the Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to effectively implement the directions of the Government and the Prime Minister, especially the Project on preventing and combating IUU fishing until 2025, which has just been issued by the Prime Minister, to develop the Vietnamese seafood exploitation, processing and export industry in a safe and sustainable manner.