Ca Mau, Kien Giang still let fishing vessels violate foreign waters

Ca Mau has many fishing boats that lose connection for a long time

On June 25, 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Fisheries Control Department) organized a working delegation to work with Ca Mau. Thereby detecting some shortcomings and slow completion of work in the fight against the IUU declaration, such as:

Data on fishing vessels on the province's registration and licensing of fishing are inconsistent in the provincial reports and the national fisheries database (VNFishbase).

Buying and selling fishing vessels in a locality that does not comply with the provisions of the law (implementing procedures for name change, change of owner, deletion/re-registration of fishing vessels) is complicated, not controlled, and handled according to regulations.

Installation of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) reached nearly 100%, but many fishing vessels still lose connection for a long time (55 ships lose connection for 6 months, 35 lose connection for 1 year).

The fishing output of the whole province is monitored and monitored inadequately according to regulations (currently controlling 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving at 5 fishing ports; the rest cannot handle fishing vessels that do not dock at ports, about 60%, leading to a new monitored output of about 40%).

The collection and submission of new fishing logs is about 40%. At Song Doc fishing port, logistics ships mainly catch fishery resources, but the new log is recorded according to the time of purchase and transshipment, not in net batches of fishing vessels; The information in the diary is sketchy, and the species name is not specified, so the reliability of the traceability cannot be guaranteed, leading to the risk of legalizing the records.

Fishing vessels docked (without fishery products from being caught or sold at sea), but monitoring and controlling these ships' activities to promptly prevent and handle if there is still IUU fishing behavior are limited.

In the locality, about 70 private fishing ports have been put into operation but have not been announced according to regulations, so fishing boats docking and unloading caught fish are against the law and cannot be monitored, monitored, and traced. The origin of exploited seafood leads to uncontrolled IUU fishing behavior.

Kien Giang has fishing vessels violating foreign waters

Kien Giang continues to be a critical province of the country, with fishing vessels violating illegal fishing in foreign waters (using fake number plates, disconnecting/sending VMS devices... to break the complex variable intentionally).

The data on the province's fishing vessels are not consistent in the provincial reports and the national fishery database (VNFishbase), about 65% of fishing licenses are issued, and about 70% of fishing vessels with registration expired, there are still 949 unregistered fishing vessels. Buying and selling fishing vessels in a locality that does not comply with the provisions of the law (implementing procedures for the name change, change of owner, deletion/re-registration of fishing vessels) is complicated, not controlled, and handled according to regulations.

VMS installation reached nearly 100%; However, the number of fishing vessels losing connection with VMS is relatively large (370 ships lost connection for 6 months, 275 ships lost connection in 1 year, lost connection in 10 days, more than 600 vessels; fishing vessels with a length of 24m or more lost their VMS connections account for 25% of the total number of ships 24m or more that lose connection in the whole country).

Fishing vessels do not dock by regulations to load and unload locally caught fish, which is common; The fishing output of the whole province is monitored and monitored very low (the catch is large, but only 8% can be monitored when unloading through the port); not specifically monitored by species name to serve traceability.

The quality of the fishing log is unreliable, with missing or incorrect information (including fishing vessels with a length of 24 m or more that must control 100% of ships entering and leaving the port), but the sanction results are not yet valid; if carrying out certification and certification for fishery products caught in these cases violates IUU; Logs of purchase and transshipment of logistics vessels catching aquatic resources have not yet recorded all catches of fishing vessels.

Minutes of inspection of fishing vessels entering and leaving the port at the Fisheries Inspection and Control Office at Tac Cau fishing port still have cases of missing information; In the inspection report of the border guard station/station, there were still cases of missing data and signatures of the inspected subjects.

Increased penalties for IUU fishing acts; However, compared with the total number of violations, the results of verification and sanction are still minimal.

Urgent solution

Ca Mau and Kien Giang are two key localities EC's 4th inspection team will conduct a physical inspection in October 2023; with the determination to remove the "yellow card" warning by October 2023 under the direction of the Prime Minister; The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed that the Chairman of the People's Committees of Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces focus on leading and directing the authorities at all levels, departments, agencies, branches, and relevant functional forces to unify awareness and take drastic action to implement the deploy the implementation of immediate tasks, urgent solutions, the following focus:

Strictly implementing the directives of the Prime Minister in Decision No. 81/QD-TTg dated February 13, 2023, Official Dispatch No. 265/CD-TTg dated April 17, 2023, and the direction of Head of the National Steering Committee on IUU; attach the responsibility of the heads of all levels to the performance results; regularly inspect, examine and thoughtfully review the responsibilities of organizations and individuals that fail to fulfill their assigned duties and tasks, arrange competent, qualified and responsible staff to perform the tasks.

Particularly for Ca Mau, based on the provisions of law and local specificities, the fishing port will be announced at private fishing ports to put into operation by the provisions of law, control and prevent illegal fishing activities; Fishing ports that do not meet the requirements are firmly prohibited from operating.

Ensure 100% of fishing vessels docked at designated ports; supervise 100% of locally caught fishery output; strictly comply with regulations on certification, certification, and traceability; and exactly handle organizations and individuals that have legalized dossiers for export shipments.

Continue to improve and invest in fisheries infrastructure; mobilize, second, and arrange sufficient resources to combat IUU fishing (funding, human resources, equipment) for local fisheries management agencies, fishing ports, and relevant functional forces.

As for Kien Giang, review all fishing vessels loading and unloading aquatic products caught not according to local regulations; resolutely handle cases of violations. Ensure 100% of fishing vessels are docked at designated ports, and supervise 100% of locally caught fishery output.

Monitor the output of caught and unloaded aquatic products through the port to ensure that the species names are thoroughly and specifically recorded; strictly comply with regulations on certification, certification, and traceability; exactly handle organizations and individuals legalizing dossiers for export shipments.

Mobilize, second, and arrange sufficient resources to combat IUU fishing (funding, human resources, equipment) for local fisheries management agencies, fishing ports, and relevant functional forces.

MARD requires both Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces to closely monitor and control the activities of local fishing vessels and fishing vessels of other provinces; inspect and control 100% of fishing vessels entering and exiting at border posts/stations, strictly sanctioning and not allowing unqualified fishing vessels to dock. In particular, managing and handling the situation of buying and selling fishing vessels in the locality must ensure compliance with the provisions of the law.