Nghe An focuses on solutions to remove IUU yellow card for seafood

Many positive results

Up to this point, Nghe An has achieved some results in inspecting and managing fishing activities according to regulations.Fisheries Lawand each content according toEC yellow card recommendation.

In addition, out of a total of 16,725 fishing workers, the province also maintains a reasonable structure of 8,476 offshore workers, 3,109 offshore workers and 5,140 coastal workers. Every year, about 700 fishermen are trained and granted professional diplomas and certificates.

Fishermen in Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu) prepare fishing gear for purse seine fishing. Photo: N. Hai

Over the past 3 years, fishing ports have invested in upgrading infrastructure, of which 4 ports are qualified to be designated to issue certificates of origin. Although there are still some difficulties, fishing ports have now updated fish output and ships entering and leaving the port more and more accurately.

Mr. Phan Tien Chuong - Director of Nghe An Fishing Port Management Board said: Nghe An currently has 4 ports that meet the conditions, facilities for issuing certificates of traceability of aquatic products and the Port has also prepared the conditions, documents and procedures. However, because Nghe An does not have any units exporting aquatic products directly to major markets such as Europe and the US, there are currently no units or enterprises requesting to issue certificates.traceability.

After being upgraded and put into use, from 2022, Lach Quen fishing port will become one of four ports in Nghe An designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to be granted a certificate of traceability of aquatic products for export. Photo: Nguyen Hai

On the other hand, thanks to the attention and support of the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee, the biggest problem regarding the cost of installing VMS monitoring equipment on fishing vessels when implementing the Fisheries Law has been resolved. From the support policy under Resolution 02 of the Provincial People's Council, in 2021, 1,106/1,128 fishing vessels subject to regulations installed VMS equipment, reaching 98.05%. In addition, the province is also developing a policy to support the maintenance of monthly VMS subscriptions. This is the basis for authorities to monitor and inspect the scope of operations of fishing vessels at sea.

A representative of Quynh Phuong Border Guard Station (Hoang Mai Town) said: Along with policies to support and encourage fishermen to change their jobs and go offshore, the province also has a roadmap to reduce boats and fishing methods in coastal and offshore areas. From there, the authorities will have a basis to monitor and strictly handle this situation.

The interdisciplinary delegation conducted propaganda before administratively sanctioning a fishing boat owner who used electric shock to catch seafood. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Since 2020, along with active propaganda on shore, every year the provincial authorities have carried out hundreds of coastal patrols to remind and punish illegal fishing vessels and boats. Thanks to that, the use of explosives or illegal fishing gear in coastal waters has recently decreased significantly. Actual inspections also show that every time the ship owners leave the port or go to sea, they complete procedures and present documents...

The offshore fishing fleet of Quynh Luu district anchored at the northern bank of Lach Quen fishing port (Quynh Luu). Photo: NH

In recent years, the Directorate of Fisheries has managed fishing in fishing grounds, assigning quotas for newly built vessels to each locality. Implementing this policy, Nghe An province has reviewed and raised inspection conditions to eliminate old vessels and vessels that do not meet quality standards, thereby reducing the number of offshore fishing vessels that are not qualified to go to sea by nearly 200.

New challenges and key tasks

In addition to the achieved results, in recent times, the situation of disconnection of VMS devices on fishing vessels has remained complicated. Specifically, in 2022, the total number of fishing vessels losing connection was 12,809, of which 370 lost connection for more than 10 days at sea; in the first 4 months of 2023, the total number of fishing vessels losing connection was 6,356, of which 256 lost connection for more than 10 days. It is known that the European Commission (EC) is very interested in this information. Therefore, the authorities of Nghe An province need to prepare, have a basis to explain, and prove convincingly when the EC working group inspects and questions.

The working group of the Directorate of Fisheries inspects IUU at the end of 2022 at Quynh Phuong fishing port (Hoang Mai town). Photo: Nguyen Hai

According to statistics from the Department of Fisheries, from 2018 to 2022, 131 Nghe An fishing vessels violated foreign waters, of which 96 were in 2022 alone; in the first 4 months of 2023, there were 55 vessels. Mr. Le Van Huong - Deputy Head of the Department of Fisheries shared: The Gulf of Tonkin is a traditional fishing ground for Nghe An fishermen.Agreement on the delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkinbetween Vietnam and China has expired, the two sides have not signed again. According to the convention, fishermen of each country fish in their own waters, there is no common fishing zone like before, so it is easy to violate, need to be careful.

Officers of the Fishing Port Management Board complete procedures for fishermen to leave port to go fishing offshore. Photo: N. Hai

Currently,Fishing boat lost connection to monitoring journeydue to many reasons, including damage due to electrical short circuits, poor equipment, unstable waves; due to fishing boat owners trying to cope by turning off the equipment themselves; due to Movimar equipment previously supported by the State being too old (450 sets of equipment) and broken.

The above situation, according to Decree 42/CP, is not enough basis to proceed with the penalty. In fact, the penalty for disconnecting VMS is quite severe, so the authorities are still "light-handed" in handling it and are proposing to amend the penalty regulations to make it consistent.

Nghe An Fisheries Surveillance forces give life jackets to fishermen on offshore fishing boats and combine propaganda and reminders about fishing in registered and licensed waters. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Mr. Tran Nhu Long - Deputy Head of the Department, in charge of the Nghe An Fisheries Department, said: To proactively welcome the EC delegation to work and inspect in Vietnam at the end of May, the Provincial People's Committee has developed a plan to welcome and work with the delegation; at the same time, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is actively advising the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the Provincial People's Council to approve the policy to support fishermen to go offshore and stick to the sea in the period of 2023-2025.

If the policy to support fishermen going offshore and sticking to the sea in the period of 2023-2025 is approved, it is expected that in 2023 the province will support 14 billion VND and in the next 2 years will support 11 billion VND/year, a total of 36 billion VND to increase the monthly VMS subscription maintenance fee support, support the replacement of previous Movimar equipment for damaged ship owners and support the cost of fuel and oil for fishermen going offshore for each trip... Hopefully, when the above policy is approved, the situation of disconnecting VMS will end and will minimize the situation of fishing vessels violating foreign waters because violating means not receiving support.

Mr. Tran Nhu Long - Deputy Head of the Department of Fisheries said.