Do not allow departure if the fishing vessel does not install monitoring equipment

Resolutely do not allow departure if the vehicle does not have monitoring equipment installed

Six loudspeakers placed right at Lach Hoi port (Sam Son City), broadcast regularly every morning by the Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board, propagate against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing).

Mr. Le Van Thang, Director of Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board, said this is the decisive stage to remove the EC "yellow card," so the management board has identified propaganda work against IUU fishing as an essential task.

Through propaganda, fishing boat owners, captains, and fishermen have complied with regulations on exploiting and protecting aquatic resources and are aware of the harmful effects of illegal fishing on the economy and national interests," Mr. Thang shared.

Also, according to the Director of Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board, in recent times, the province has implemented a policy to support the installation of cruise monitoring equipment for fishing vessels: free 3-year subscription, and at the same time require fishing vessel owners to commit to installing and maintaining the operation of cruise monitoring equipment when carrying out fisheries exploitation. Therefore, people are very excited and comply with regulations on operating equipment and rules on aquatic exploitation in general.

Many large-capacity fishing vessels at Lach Hoi fishing port (Quang Tien Ward, Sam Son City, Thanh Hoa Province) lie waiting for calm waves and calm seas to go out to sea. On board the ship number TH-93777-TS, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hai (ship owner) and the fishermen took advantage of the opportunity to repair their fishing gear and prepare for a long fishing trip. Mr. Hai's ship has over a dozen workers, with an average salary of VND 6-7 million/person/month.

If fishermen paid little attention to installing voyage monitoring equipment and recording fishing logs in the past, now all offshore fishing vessels in Thanh Hoa have this equipment installed. This helps authorities monitor and manage fishing vessels to avoid illegal fishing and helps fishermen handle emergencies when encountering big waves, strong winds, or accidents on the sea.

No restricted areas for handling violations

Thanh Hoa province promotes inspection, control, and strict supervision of vessel activities, especially fishing vessels at risk of IUU violations.

Specifically, recently, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province issued a decision to impose VND 900 million in administrative sanctions on Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan (Quang Thach commune, Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa), owner of the fishing boat TH-90221-TS, due to illegal fishing in other countries' waters.

In addition to the above fine, the owner of the violating fishing vessel will also be fined VND 25 million for disabling cruise monitoring equipment during operations at sea and VND 7.5 million for remaining errors. The total fine for fishing boat owners for this violation is more than VND 932 million.

The People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province also applied additional penalties, such as confiscation of the fishing boat TH-90221-TS according to the provisions of Decree No. 42/2019/ND-CP dated May 16, 2019, of the Government. Decisions on sanctions for administrative violations in fisheries; Revocation of the right to use captain's certificate No. T001711 was issued by Thanh Hoa Fisheries Intermediate School (now Thanh Hoa Agricultural College) for 9 months to vessel owner Nguyen Van Tuan. 

Not only was he fined, but ship owner Nguyen Van Tuan was also responsible for paying more than VND 200 million to buy guaranteed fuel for Coast Guard ship 6002 - Coast Guard Region 1 Command, towing ship TH-90221- TS from the China Coast Guard to Nghi Son International Port.

Major Truong Chi Cuong, Deputy Chief of Operations at Sam Son Border Guard Station, said that along with propaganda against IUU fishing, handling violating fishing vessels is incredibly deterring, and educating fishermen to comply with legal regulations in fisheries exploitation.

According to Major Cuong, the most challenging thing in fighting IUU fishing is changing the awareness of fishermen. Only when fishermen's awareness changes will the EC's goal of removing the "yellow card" be practical. Therefore, to perform this task well, Sam Son Border Guard Station actively organizes propaganda for fishermen to change awareness and raise awareness of compliance with laws against IUU fishing; Coordinate with police and fisheries surveillance to schedule peak patrols, inspections, and control of compliance with regulations on IUU fishing; Strictly handle violations of the law and violations of IUU fishing...