Concentrate maximum resources to combat IUU fishing

Comrade Pham Minh Chinh - Politburo member, Prime Minister chaired from Hanoi. Also attending were representatives of leaders of departments, ministries, and branches who are members of the National IUU Steering Committee and the bridge of 28 coastal provinces and cities.

Chairing from Nghe An bridge was comrade Nguyen Van De - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing. Attending were representatives of departments, branches, and representatives of the People's Committees of coastal districts and towns; representatives of the Command Boards of Border Guard stations and coastal communes.

Unity of action, words go hand in hand with deeds

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reviewed the results after nearly 7 years of implementing measures to remove the yellow card as recommended by the EC for Vietnamese seafood.

To remove the yellow card and combat IUU fishing, in addition to issuing the Fisheries Law and new Decrees, the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued Resolutions and Directives to unify actions and mobilize the entire political system to take action, so there is no reason to hinder or delay. Therefore, localities must discuss frankly and openly to propose effective implementation solutions, words must go hand in hand with actions, and action must lead to success and victory...

Next, the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on the preliminary situation and results of combating IUU fishing, including some highlights of leadership, direction and management; and reviewed the implementation results of each recommended content such as perfecting the legal framework; fleet management, monitoring, controlling and supervising fishing vessel activities; results of investigation, verification and handling of a number of fishing vessels violating seafood import and export; the situation of prosecution of a case against anumber of organizations and individuals involved.

Specifically, the whole country has prosecuted 11 criminal cases, and is investigating 3 cases with signs of violating criminal law in a number of provinces; prosecuted 3 cases related to the act of brokerage and collusion to bring fishing vessels to exploit seafood illegally. Since the 4th EU inspection, the whole country has fined 2,877 cases with a total amount of over 93 billion VND, of which from the beginning of 2024, 2,154 cases have been fined, with a total amount of 61 billion VND, an increase of 25% over the same period in 2023.

In addition to the above outstanding results, speaking at the conference, representatives of ministries, branches and localities also pointed out a number of shortcomings, limitations and reasons why the fight against IUU fishing has not been highly effective.

At the conference, Nghe An province's report said that the whole province has a fleet of 3,630 fishing vessels, of which 2,733 are required to be registered (over 6m long). Currently, 2,556 have been registered, reaching 93.52% and 100% of the vessels have been updated to the national fisheries database system. Implementing the direction to focus on handling the "3 no" fishing vessel group, Nghe An has focused on reviewing and processing the registration of 282/459 vessels, reaching 61.44% and is completing the procedures to complete the registration of "3 no" fishing vessels by August 31, 2024. In the first 8 months of 2024, the province has sanctioned 183 cases, with a fine of 3.02 billion VND, 3.7 times higher than in 2023.

Concentrate human resources and determination to remove the yellow card

Based on the discussion opinions, the Prime Minister requested the Standing Committee of the National IUU Steering Committee and directly requested ministries, branches and localities to concentrate resources to prevent and stop fishing vessels from illegally exploiting in foreign waters; strengthen functional forces in key areas; thoroughly apply Resolution No. 04/2024/NQĐTP dated June 12, 2024 of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court on handling IUU violations.

In addition, the Ministry of Public Security and provinces are requested to strictly handle cases of illegal seafood import and export that are discovered. Instruct localities to promptly complete fleet management, thoroughly handle "3 no" fishing vessels; investigate and strictly punish illegal fishing cases in foreign waters; and the situation of sending and disconnecting VMS when fishing. Strictly control right from the shore, resolutely handle the responsibilities of related organizations and individuals. Organize working groups of Government leaders to monitor and rectify IUU fishing in localities.

Concluding the conference, the Prime Minister acknowledged that localities have made progress, but at the same time shared concerns when the results of combating IUU fishing are still limited because the final results have not been achieved. The handling of "3 no" fishing vessels is still persistent and not yet finished; the situation of fishing vessels losing VMS signals is still complicated, can network service providers verify, clarify and fix it? The verification and handling of fishing vessels that violate the law, lose connection, and illegally fish in foreign waters is still recurring... It is necessary to clarify the responsibilities of local authorities and relevant parties so that there are answers and solutions to handle it thoroughly and effectively.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the Central Government has issued Resolutions, Directives and full legal frameworks for handling, and requested local Party committees and authorities at all levels to raise awareness, take responsibility; focus human resources, resources and high determination to implement, bringing about clear results. After implementing the assignment, it is necessary to urge and supervise; strengthen coordination and collaboration in both inspection and handling of violations, prosecution, criminal handling... The upcoming goal is nothing other than that Vietnamese seafood must remove the EC yellow card. It is necessary to focus human resources and material resources to complete and prepare to work with the upcoming 5th EC inspection team./.