Nghe An tightens licensing for building, converting, renting or buying fishing boats

Specifically, Nghe An province stated the principle that approval for building, converting, renting, and purchasing fishing vessels operating at sea must be consistent with the quota of fishing licenses at sea assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and announced by the Provincial People's Committee. Do not develop and gradually reduce fishing vessels operating in trawl and gillnet fishing; prioritize the conversion to fishing and logistics occupations for catching aquatic resources to contribute to the sustainable development of fisheries. The review of applications for approval documents for building, converting, renting, and purchasing fishing vessels operating at sea must ensure publicity and transparency in accordance with the review process.

AccordinglyFor newly built, converted or leased or purchased fishing vessels:

-For newly built fishing vessels:Must have a business registration certificate issued by a competent authority of Nghe An province for organizations; must have permanent residence registration in Nghe An province for individuals. Register for fishing in accordance with the provisions of the Circulars of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the protection and development of aquatic resources; amend and supplement a number of Circulars in the field of fisheries. For newly built fishing vessels with a maximum length (Lmax) of 12 meters or more, there must be a technical design dossier for the new fishing vessel that has been appraised and approved by a competent authority before applying for a written approval for the new fishing vessel. The hull materials and priority order are steel hull, new material hull, and wooden hull, respectively. New construction is not approved for fishing vessels engaged in trawling and tuna gillnet fishing.

-For converted fishing vessels: For fishing vessels with a maximum length (Lmax) of 12 meters or more, before applying for a conversion approval document, there must be a technical design file for the conversion appraised and approved by a competent authority. Conversion of other occupations to trawling or tuna trawling is not accepted; fishing vessels with a maximum length (Lmax) of 12 meters or more are converted to a maximum length (Lmax) below 12 meters. For fishing vessels engaged in trawling, conversion to change hull size, change total main engine capacity, change operating area is not accepted; in case of conversion of fishing vessels engaged in trawling to another occupation, it must be in accordance with the published quota of fishing licenses.

-For chartered and purchased vessels: Comply with regulations for newly built vessels. Fishing vessels rented or purchased have been registered and inspected according to regulations in Circulars of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regulating fishing vessel inspectors, certifying fishing vessel inspection facilities; ensuring technical safety of fishing vessels and fisheries control vessels; registering fishing vessels and fisheries service vessels; deleting fishing vessel registration and marking fishing vessels; Circular amending and supplementing a number of Circulars in the field of fisheries. The age of the hull must not exceed 15 years from the year of construction to the time of renting or purchasing. It is not acceptable to rent or purchase fishing vessels for trawling or tuna trawling. In case of fishing vessels rented or purchased from other provinces, they must have a maximum length of 15 meters or more and comply with the quota of fishing licenses announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Criteria and priority: In case the organizations and individuals that meet the above criteria are more than the quota of fishing licenses, the following criteria will be considered in order of priority. Specifically, from priority 1, the issuance of documents approving the construction, conversion, leasing, and purchase of replacement vessels for operating fishing vessels that have had accidents, are damaged, sunk, or are forced to be scrapped or dismantled. Next, priority 2 is implemented in order, from newly built vessels in order (steel hull, new material hull, wooden hull) to converted vessels and finally leased and purchased vessels.

Priority 3 is the newly built replacement vessel with the largest length (Lmax) and a larger main engine capacity than the vessel being replaced. Priority 4 is implemented in the following order: the vessel is mobilized to participate in protecting sovereignty and sovereign rights of sea areas and islands; has participated in the rescue and salvage force at sea organized by a competent State agency; is the head of a fisheries exploitation cooperative, captain of a fishing fleet, and logistics for catching aquatic resources at sea. Finally, priority 5, the time of registration is in the order of the time the vessel owner submits the application for approval to build, convert, lease, or purchase a fishing vessel.

Implementing organization:In the above Decision, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to advise the Provincial People's Committee to announce the quota for granting fishing licenses at sea based on the announcement and assignment of license quotas by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; periodically report on the situation of building, converting, renting, and purchasing fishing vessels to the Provincial People's Committee to report to the Ministry. At the same time, the Provincial Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control was assigned to propagate and guide relevant organizations and individuals to comply with the provisions of the regulations.

Relevant departments and branches, within the scope of their responsibilities and authority, shall coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to organize propaganda and fully implement the contents of this regulation and related documents.

The Provincial Border Guard Command is assigned to direct coastal Border Guard Stations to organize patrols, inspections, and controls on waters under their management for fishing vessels, and coordinate with relevant units to promptly prevent and handle illegal fishing vessels.

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For the People's Committees of coastal districts, cities and towns, organize propaganda and dissemination of this regulation to relevant organizations and individuals for knowledge and implementation; coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and relevant departments and branches to manage and supervise fishing vessels transferred in and out of the province according to regulations. Organizations and individuals that build, convert, rent or purchase fishing vessels may only build, convert, rent or purchase fishing vessels after being approved by competent authorities and must properly implement the contents that have been granted.

This Decision takes effect from November 17, 2024, replacing Decision No. 18/2020/QD-UBND and Decision No. 39/2022/QD-UBND amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decision 18/2020/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee with similar regulations on this content./.