Nghe An has only 8 fishing boats installed with journey monitoring equipment.

The rate of ships equipped with navigation devices is very low.

According to the provisions of the 2017 Fisheries Law, all fishing vessels over 15 meters in length must be equipped with a voyage monitoring device for management during fishing at sea. This is also one of the requirements of the European Union (EU) to remove the “yellow card” for Vietnam on combating illegal fishing.

In fact, many fishing vessel owners do not fully understand the 2017 Fisheries Law, so they are not interested in installing voyage monitoring devices on fishing vessels, because they think that investing in voyage monitoring devices is only for management and monitoring, but does not bring benefits in exploiting and catching seafood. Therefore, up to this point, the number of vessels equipped with voyage monitoring devices in localities is very small. According to data from the Department of Fisheries, by April 2019, the whole province had only 8 vessels equipped with voyage monitoring devices.

According to regulations, fishing boats in Nghe An and the whole country must install voyage monitoring equipment.

Quynh Long commune is the locality with the largest number of boats and annual seafood catch in Quynh Luu district. Most of the boats use the following fishing methods: trawling, purse seine, 4-pole net, squid fishing. Therefore, it is necessary to install a journey monitoring device to confirm that there is no illegal fishing in the sea.

However, according to Mr. Vu Ngoc Chat - Chairman of the Commune Fisheries Association, the whole commune currently has 19 ships with a length of over 24m and 65 ships with a length of 15 to 24m. These ships are required to install voyage monitoring devices. However, up to now, only 4 ships have been invested by fishermen to install voyage monitoring devices.

Fishermen from Quynh Luu district in the Gulf of Tonkin. Photo: Nguyen Khoa

At the fishing port inspection by Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong in early April on the implementation of regulations on seafood exploitation according to the Fisheries Law 2017, Mr. Nguyen Van Lien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune, Dien Chau District said: Recently, the locality has organized many meetings for fishermen to propagate and mobilize people to implement regulations according to the Fisheries Law 2017, including installing journey monitoring devices on fishing vessels, in order to overcome the European yellow card.

However, due to the difficult economic conditions of fishermen, no vessel has been equipped with monitoring equipment. According to Mr. Lien, the State needs to have a policy to support fishermen to invest in purchasing a journey monitoring system. This opinion has been acknowledged by the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Comrade Dinh Viet Hong said that the Provincial People's Committee will propose to the Provincial People's Council at the next meeting.

Installing a voyage monitoring device for fishing vessels is extremely important to manage fishing vessels at sea, and at the same time, to have smooth communication to be proactive in rescue situations, information about fishing grounds, weather... The device will be synchronized; when the vessel goes out to sea, the system automatically reports to the shore station every hour for management and monitoring.

Diagram of a fishing vessel monitoring service

Strong measures will be taken

According to statistics, in Nghe An province there are currently 1,081 ships from 15 - 24m and 234 ships with a length of over 24m, mainly in Quynh Luu district and Hoang Mai town.

(Large photo) Fishing boats of Nghe An fishermen will install voyage monitoring devices; Authorities will educate fishermen about the installation of voyage monitoring devices; Dong Van Manh fishermen in Son Hai commune, Quynh Luu district will fish more effectively thanks to the installation of modern communication devices and fish detectors. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong - Head of the Fisheries Sub-Department said: Nghe An currently has 3,521 fishing boats, of which 1,089 are from 15 - 24m and 234 are from 24m or longer. Implementing the Fisheries Law 2017, in recent times, the Fisheries Sub-Department has identified the most important task as promoting propaganda work for fishermen to understand.

Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong added that at the Conference on implementing urgent solutions to overcome the yellow card of the European Commission (EC), organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on April 23, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong directed localities to continue to effectively implement the Government's directives and the Fisheries Law. Strengthen patrols, inspections, and supervision of law enforcement; promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle fishing vessels and fishermen with signs of violating foreign waters. Synchronize the fisheries database in May 2019.

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong also requested 28 coastal provinces and cities to urgently complete the issuance of fishing license quotas for fishing vessels before July 2019; seriously revoke licenses for fishing vessels violating IUU fishing. At the same time, speed up the installation of voyage monitoring equipment for fishing vessels.

On March 8, 2019, the Prime Minister issued Decree No. 26 detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Fisheries Law. Accordingly, the roadmap for installing fishing vessel monitoring equipment: Fishing vessels with a maximum length of 24 meters or more must install voyage monitoring equipment before July 1, 2019; for trawling and tuna fishing vessels with a maximum length of 15 meters to less than 24 meters must install before January 1, 2020; fishing vessels with a maximum length of 15 meters to less than 24 meters must install before April 1, 2020.