Binh Thuan strictly monitors 173 fishing vessels at risk of IUU

173 fishing vessels at risk of IUU violations

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated that significant progress has been made in preventing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in the province since the beginning of the year. Particularly after identifying shortcomings and limitations highlighted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's inspection team in late May, the province has exerted full efforts to rectify the situation.

Specifically, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has collaborated with the Provincial Border Guard Command and localities to review, classify, screen, and compile a list of 173 high-risk fishing vessels violating foreign waters. Subsequently, they have reported to the Provincial People's Committee, the Government Office, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, urging them to direct units and localities to enhance the management of high-risk fishing vessels and prevent violations in foreign maritime areas.

Additionally, the province has established an interdisciplinary task force to conduct field inspections and verify the status of the fishing vessel BTh 95055 TS owned by Mr. Tran Ngoc Chien (Tuy Phong district), which is suspected of violating maritime laws.

Following this, the inspection team has submitted a report and recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee, requesting that legal forces at sea, including the Navy, Coast Guard, Fisheries Inspection, Provincial People's Committees, and the Provincial Border Guard Command, coordinate in strictly inspecting and handling any violations committed by fishing vessel owners.

The Provincial Border Guard Command regularly exchanges and requests other provincial Border Guard Commands to coordinate in controlling the province's fishing vessels operating outside the province. They have also assigned 47 officers to monitor and supervise specifically those fishing vessels at high risk of violating foreign maritime areas.

The Provincial Police have directed coastal police units to collaborate with relevant units to grasp the situation, review, control, and detect fishing vessels violating monitoring procedures, organize investigations to clarify the causes, and strictly handle according to regulations. They have also enhanced the monitoring and management of vessel owners, captains, and fishermen who have previously illegally exploited fisheries and have been detained and released by foreign countries to prevent recurrence.

"The Provincial People's Committee has tasked the Provincial Police to invite owners of high-risk vessels involved in encroaching on foreign maritime areas, especially those with VMS disconnection periodically, repeatedly on the borderline seas, disconnected for over 10 days for work, to investigate the causes and subject them to special monitoring", Mr Chien shared.

According to Mr Chien, with these efforts, since the incident of a vessel being detained by Malaysia and fined 900 million VND earlier in 2023, there have been no further incidents of vessels violating foreign maritime areas in Binh Thuan.

In the first six months of this year, the province has imposed administrative fines in 263 cases totalling over VND 1.8 billion. In early July 2024, the Fisheries Sub-department forwarded files of 2 cases to the Inspectorate of the Department to advise the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to impose administrative fines totalling VND 188 million.

Efforts to eliminate "3 No's" vessels by September

Recently, the Provincial People's Committee of Binh Thuan has issued numerous directives, urging agencies, units, and localities to seriously and decisively implement the review, statistics, classification, and screening of "3 No's" vessels in the area.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan Province, up to now, the department has advised the Provincial People's Committee to announce the list of 2,531 "3 No's" fishing vessels and instructed units and localities to strengthen strict management to prevent new occurrences.

In addition, the department has also advised the Provincial People's Committee to report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to request opinions on registering "3 No's" fishing vessels with a length of 12 meters or more equipped with engines. They also recommended that the Provincial People's Committee send documents to other provinces requesting the transfer of quota permits for offshore fishing to Binh Thuan Province for re-registration of fishing vessels over 15 meters purchased outside the province at various times in the past.

Based on the guidance of the Provincial Tax Department on declaring fees for vessels engaged in fishing activities to implement registration and inspection, and to manage "3 No's" fishing vessels in the province, the Fisheries Sub-department has issued a plan to organize temporary registration and issuance of registration certificates and fishing permits for fishing vessels according to the regulations in Circular No. 06/2024 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

"According to the plan, we will complete the official registration and fishing permits for fishing vessels by September 30", Mr. Chien stated with determination.

Recently, at a meeting of the Steering Committee on IUU in the province, Mr Nguyen Hong Hai, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee of Binh Thuan, requested localities to specifically implement the provincial People's Committee's documents on monitoring and supervising high-risk fishing vessel groups violating foreign maritime areas. Relevant authorities need to intensify propaganda efforts against peak IUU fishing activities by September 30, focusing on actively encouraging fishermen to register their "3 No's" vessels.