Concentrating sychronorously, comprehensively and drastically on IUU

Attempts to implement the EC's recommendations

On November 20, as part of a business trip to the south-central area, a working party of the MARD headed by Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien met with Khanh Hoa authorities. The two sides discussed the implementation of EC’s guidelines on fighting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the state of animal husbandry and disease prevention in this location.

Director of Khanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Tan Ban noted that the complete political system of the province has oriented severely on implementation of anti IUU measures. It formed a Steering Committee on IUU and set Committee operating procedures.

Additionally, the province published plans on IUU and a mechanism for managing information about ships that lose connection or enter foreign seas (with a maximum length of 15 meters to less than 24 meters) to serve as a foundation for addressing violations following legislation. Additionally, the province constructed and deployed four representative offices to monitor and supervise fisheries in the fishing ports of Hon Ro, Da Bac, Vinh Luong, and Dai Lanh.

By November 2021, representative offices of fisheries inspection and control will have examined fishing boats departing and docking at the port 2,286 times, yielding over 3,858 tons of fish.

The Sub-Department of Fisheries' shore station has been invested in and equipped with a computer system, huge screen, and on-duty employees 24 hours a day to monitor fishing operations at sea, retain information, and communicate with the vehicle owner's family and crew members. From October 2018 until the present, no fishing boats from Khanh Hoa have been caught engaging in illegal fishing in foreign seas.

The Khanh Hoa Fisheries Sub-Department has updated the National Fisheries Database System with 100% of the province's fishing vessel data (Vnfishbase).  Over 95% of fishing boats with a length of six meters or more have been inspected for technical safety, marked, and licensed for fishing in line with applicable laws. Currently, 696/720 fishing vessels in the vicinity have cruise monitoring technology installed at a rate of 96.6 percent. ..

Mr. Le Tan Ban reports that the province now has 410 cattle and poultry farms. There are 31 large-scale livestock farms, 250 medium-sized livestock farms, and 129 small-scale livestock farms in this region.

Cattle and poultry raising have mostly shifted away from the family model toward organized farm production that incorporates technology advancements, biosecurity, and environmental stewardship. In which about 80% of pigs and 50% of chickens are grown on farms.

Mr. Tran Dinh Luan, head of the Directorate of Fisheries, emphasized the important function of communication in raising awareness among fishermen. They will comply with the law once they acknowledge it. As a result, Khanh Hoa province must enhance promotion and effectively enforce the Fisheries Law to ensure the industry's long-term viability. Mr. Luan also stressed to Khanh Hoa that tourist growth should be linked to biodiversity conservation and environmental preservation. Additionally, the province's qualified seed production facilities should be reviewed in order to attract quality breeders to serve farmers.

Such efforts by Khanh Hoa remain insufficient in comparison to the EC's standards

At the conference, the MARD delegation said that the IUU inspection in Khanh Hoa this time had made amazing progress. In which, registration and control of fishing boats entering and exiting the port, log recording, and installation of cruise monitoring equipment have all been done at a rate of 96-99 percent, which is considered an extremely high rate.

The implementation of law enforcement, in particular, is seen to have made significant development in comparison to other provinces.

However, the MARD working committee identified some concerns for Khanh Hoa province to address and resolve. Without cruise tracking systems, ships must be continuously monitored to ensure they are not permitted to sail for fishing purposes. Additionally, it is critical to strengthen control overfishing output, ensuring traceability from landings to when fish are transported to facilities...

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said at the working session that although Khanh Hoa outperforms other provinces in combating IUU, it is difficult to compare such efforts to the EC's standards. As a consequence, he urged the province to maintain a consistent, comprehensive, and harsh emphasis on IUU. As authorized by the Prime Minister, and as stated in the Directive, the "yellow card" must be eliminated by 2022. As a result, the province's priority should be on addressing the aforementioned inadequacies.

According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, Khanh Hoa would be a Central province with a population of more than 2 million people in terms of cattle. As a result, supplying food demand will be a significant challenge, as the area's cattle, poultry, and pig herds are still rather small.

As a result, if we do not adopt a plan for animal production in conjunction with aquaculture expansion, we will face food shortages.

Mr. Dinh Van Thieu, Vice Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, recognized the aforementioned problems and would order specialized authorities to address them expeditiously. Concerning investment in concentrated slaughter facilities, Mr. Thieu said that the province has also pushed investment and urged private sector participation despite an unexpectedly low response. As a result, the province is committed to investing in concentrated slaughter facilities in the near future to assure food safety and cleanliness, as well as disease prevention activities.