Nghe An: Checking at sea, continued to discover 8 fishing boats violating regulations

Fisheries Surveillance ship VN-93967-KN operates inspection activities in coastal waters and offshore waters of Hoang Mai town and Dien Chau bay. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Based on field inspections in coastal and offshore waters, the delegation inspected the fishing licenses of 8 vessels, including 5 fishing vessels fishing in the sea and offshore waters of Lach Con estuary (Hoang Mai town) and 3 vessels of Dien Chau people were operating trawling in Dien Chau waters.

The inspection team inspected the fishing boat owner in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) fishing in coastal waters on the afternoon of May 24. This boat has a new crew member but has not yet updated the crew registration book. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Basically, fishing boat owners in the area are all granted fishing licenses according to regulations and only commit a few mistakes such as lacking life buoys, not updating new fishing crew, boats 12-1m long but fishing in coastal areas; when repairing, not painting the cabin and bow according to regulations (boats over 12m-15m must have their bows painted yellow, but the boat owners painted them red) or boats from 6m to under 12m have registered license plates but do not carry documents on board with the reason of fishing during the day...

Another fishing boat of fishermen Dien Ngoc (Dien Chau) was fishing in Dien Chau Bay violating paint color. Photo: Nguyen Hai

A ship owner in Dien Chau did not comply with regulations. His ship was 12-15m long but he was fishing in coastal areas and was warned by authorities. Photo: Nguyen Hai

For the above violations, since this is the first time, the delegation has reminded each boat owner and created conditions for fishermen to continue fishing, but if they re-offend, they will update and report to the Border Guard Stations controlling the estuary for handling and not complete the procedures for departure.

Authorities have warned fishermen that when they discover illegal fishing, they must report it to the hotline of the Fisheries Department. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In parallel with inspections and reminders, the working group also coordinated with the Quynh Phuong Border Guard Station to propagate and distribute leaflets on enforcement of the Fisheries Law, protection of fishing grounds and support fishermen in protecting national sovereignty at sea; if any illegal exploitation of the Fisheries Law is detected, it will be reported to the hotline of the Nghe An Fisheries Department for inspection and handling.

Distributing leaflets to help fishermen understand and comply with new regulations of the Fisheries Law and regulations on protecting aquatic resources. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong - Head of the Fisheries Sub-Department, Head of the inspection team, said: In addition to detecting and strictly handling a number of illegal fishing activities, this inspection will focus on propagating to fishermen to understand and comply with the new regulations of the Fisheries Law and regulations on protecting aquatic resources, for the long-term future of the fishing industry./.