Establishing a regular and modern fisheries surveillance force

Fishing vessels with multiple monitoring systems

During the August briefing on September 6 in Hanoi, Mr. Duong Van Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Fisheries Surveillance, reported that the Department's activities has yielded positive results including: the development of programs, schemes, projects and legal documents; the protection and development of aquatic resources; the fight against illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing; international cooperation; administrative reform and cadre organization among many others

Regarding the patrolling, inspecting, controlling and handling of administrative violations at sea in the first eight months of 2023, the Sub-Departments of Fisheries Surveillance in Regions I and V have carried out 14 and 28 patrols, respectively, on 577 fishing vessels operating at sea. As a result, 33 vessels were fined for an amount of over 2 billion VND.

Additionally, 30 fishing surveillance vessels are stationed in adjacent waters each month in order to prevent fishing vessels from illegally exploiting seafood in foreign waters.

However, many common violations still exist such as: expired exploitation licenses, expired technical safety certificates for fishing vessels, inadequate qualifications for captains and chief engineers; exploitation in the wrong area or on the wrong route, with the most prominent violation being trawling vessels in coastal areas; illegal exploitation in foreign waters; disconnection of the vessel monitoring system (VMS); carriage of multiple vessel monitoring systems and so on.

Coordination with the surveillance forces to remove the "yellow card"

Mr. Vu Duyen Hai, Head of Fisheries Exploitation under the Directorate of Fisheries, proposed solutions to enhance the effectiveness of future fisheries surveillance activities: "The Directorate of Fisheries needs to verify information regarding arrested in foreign waters. Subsequently, these vessels must be identified and placed on the list of IUU fishing vessels. The list will be uploaded to the Directorate's website for inspection, control, and handling of violations according to regulations".

"In addition, during future patrols, inspections, and control trips at sea, it is necessary to focus on fishing vessels at high risk of violating IUU fishing; vessels violating regulations on maintaining connection to the VMS system; and transshipping vessels that dock on islands to avoid inspection by authorities at fishing ports", Mr. Hai added.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, Director of the Department of Fisheries Surveillance, the Department plans to arrange four inspection trips by the interdisciplinary working group. Accordingly, the first inspection trip will be conducted in Tien Giang and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the second in Quang Ngai and Quang Nam, the third in Ben Tre - Bac Lieu and the fourth in Ninh Thuan - Binh Thuan.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien concluded: "The Fisheries Surveillance Force is a newly established civil law enforcement force as an administrative unit under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. We also have the existing Department of Fisheries Surveillance under the Directorate of Fisheries. However, their legal positions and functions are vastly different. As a result, we need to move towards regularization and modernity".

The Deputy Minister requested the Department of Fisheries Surveillance to thoroughly prepare for its future tasks, and utilize experts to finalize the fisheries exploitation planning for submission to the Government. Specific solutions to the survey and assessment of deep water resources must be taken into account. Additionally, the issue of marine conservation must be addressed at a constitutional level.

Regarding anti-IUU fishing, the violating seven-ton export shipment of swordfish must be severely punished. In addition to the issues highlighted by the inspection team from the European Commission, it is necessary to clarify issues regarding traceability, disconnection of the VMS, etc.

Regarding fisheries surveillance activities, the force must strictly carry out its duties. It is necessary to clearly define the goal and coordinate with relevant agencies in order to enforce regulations at sea, and remove the EC"s "yellow card". Vessels traveling at sea must record information pertaining to engine capacity, scheduled destinations, and sea chart details in a logbook. All travels must be planned, effective, and coordinated with local units.