Nghe An focuses on reviewing and decisively handling fishing vessels that lack proper documentation (3 no's, 0.0 ...

Actively guide and support fishermen…

In accordance with Circular No. 06/TT-BNN&PTNT on amending and supplementing procedures for granting fishing vessel licenses, after a review, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Decision 1647/2024/QD-UBND announcing 459 fishing vessels that are "3 no's" and therefore ineligible for fishing licenses. Of these, 122 vessels are located in Hoang Mai town, 86 in Quynh Luu district, 199 in Nghi Loc district, 10 in Dien Chau district, and 42 in Cua Lo town...

To ensure compliance with the Fisheries Law of 2017 and related decrees, the Provincial People's Committee requires the above-mentioned vessel owners to supplement information and procedural documents for registration and licensing before August 31, 2024.

In addition, the Provincial Steering Committee on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing has also mandated that by August 31, 2024, the review and processing of procedures for 459 vessels and fishing vessels that were registered before that date must be completed. Any fishing vessel owner who fails to re-register will be absolutely prohibited from going out to sea to fish; after August 31, 2024, if the vessel continues to fish, severe penalties will be imposed without exception.

In early July 2024, the Provincial People's Committee directed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Fisheries Sub-Department to review and guide fishermen in completing the necessary procedures. However, these fishing vessels have rather complex origins, with expired registration and inspection documents, but the fishermen have not yet renewed them.

Mr. Tran Xuan Nhue, Head of the Exploitation Department of the Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection Sub-Department, added: For a long time, when going through procedures, fishermen have been declaring inaccurately the length of their vessels or incorrectly declaring the power, brand, and origin of their main engines; fishing vessels have been transferred multiple times through many owners. In addition, fishermen paint the cabins and bows of their vessels incorrectly according to the regulations of the Fisheries Law, making it difficult for authorities to identify and manage them.

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According to Circular No. 06/2024/TT-BNN&PTNT, even after multiple transfers, the current owner only needs to declare the most recent owner who transferred the fishing vessel to them, along with information such as vessel length, engine power, and photos of the bow and wheelhouse, to have the vessel assessed and licensed under their name without having to pay registration fees. This is a favorable arrangement by the State, and fishing vessels with "three no's" (no registration fee, no engine power ...

Mr. Le Van Huong - Deputy Head of the Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection Sub-Department of Nghe An Province

Quynh Phuong Ward is one of the areas with the highest number of "3-no" fishing vessels in Hoang Mai Town, with 106 such vessels. After three review and guidance sessions, by July 31st, procedures were completed for 106 vessels on the list; at the same time, declarations were received for 37 vessels not on the list. In Dien Chau District, after persuasion efforts, all 10 "3-no" fishing vessels in Dien Ngoc Commune registered and completed the procedures for re-issuance; simultaneously, 2 vessels not on the list submitted supplementary declarations.

After nearly four weeks of implementation, the Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection Sub-Department held seven working sessions with districts and towns. As of August 15th, 247 out of 459 fishing vessels had been issued fishing vessel registration certificates, reaching 53.81%; 182 out of 247 fishing vessels had been issued fishing licenses; and efforts are being made to complete the registration procedures for 100% of the "three no" vessels on the list before August 31st, 2024. Currently, along with focusing on resolving the "three no" fishing vessels on the list, localities are actively encouraging fishermen to declare newly arising "three no" vessels.

Proactively address newly arising obstacles.

In addition to the "three-no" fishing vessels on the list, according to reports from districts and towns, as of August 14, 2024, the entire province had 156 vessels not on the list that needed to be added.

Despite explanations and awareness campaigns by district People's Committees, border guard posts, and commune officials, the resolution process remains quite slow.

Previously, due to a lack of supervision and penalties for unregistered transfers of ownership of fishing vessels, the transfer of ownership of fishing vessels by fishermen in provinces in general, and Nghe An in particular, was quite arbitrary. Fishing vessels from Nghe An were sold to provinces such as Thanh Hoa and Nam Dinh without completing the ownership transfer procedures, and vice versa. Therefore, many vessels, upon inspection, had license plates from one province, but in reality, the vessel had been transferred to an owner in another province.

Representatives from the People's Committee of Quynh Lap commune and the Quynh Phuong Border Guard Station shared: Some boats only return to anchor at Lach Con a few times a year. If they violate regulations, disconnecting the VMS system or having expired fishing permits makes it difficult to contact the boat owners for verification and inspection.

In Quynh Luu and Dien Chau districts, some fishermen have stopped going to sea, their boats are damaged, and their registration papers have expired, but they haven't deregistered them due to fear of the cost, so they haven't gone through the re-registration process. According to the Provincial Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection Department, these cases require persistent persuasion and clear explanations of their rights before the fishermen will comply.

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To manage fishing vessels entering and leaving ports and to facilitate seafood traceability, the Fisheries Department has recently implemented an electronic seafood traceability management software (eCDT) to monitor fishing vessels. However, the declaration rate remains low; as of August 10th, only 467 offshore fishing vessels in Nghe An province had installed eCDT. From now until August 31st, the Port Management Board and the Fisheries Sub-department will continue to encourage vessel owners to install the software.

Mr. Phan Tien Chuong - Head of the Nghe An Fishing Port Management Board

Mr. Mai Hong Phong, Head of the Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection Department of the province, said: The department is focusing on processing licenses for fishing vessels with "three no's" (no licenses, no permits ...

Nghe An province has a large fishing fleet, but the inspection and registration services are provided by private companies from outside the province. Although the Provincial Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection Department is the main agency managing the fishing fleet in the area, the data available for monitoring and supervising fishing vessels is quite limited. Therefore, we earnestly hope that central ministries and agencies, as well as neighboring provinces, will strengthen cooperation and support to enable the department to manage and update data on fishing vessels entering and leaving the area more effectively.