I. Stop paying bribes for illegal fishing

Stormy waters

On 11 September, the Fisheries Surveillance Ship 506 departed at Phu Quoc port for the An Thoi Sea. In the very first days of the voyage, the sea was calm and the sun shone, and the ship sailed through a number of locations, including Ong Doi Cape, Hon Thom Island, and Canal 1 among others.

Most of the vessels we encountered were trawlers; squid fishing vessels are under 15 meters long. On the vessels' roofs, lights dangled and wavered as the wind blew. When night descends, these light bulbs illuminate the entire vessel to entice shoals of squids, so the next day the fishing boat's roof will be covered with squid.

The ship reached a vast expanse of water on the third day. Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, commander of ship KN - 506, anchored the vessel within the Vietnam-Cambodia Historical Water Area, which was depicted on the nautical chart as a quadrilateral. At this period, single fishing vessels were uncommon. They are as insignificant as a distant dot floating above a vast, flat body of water as they stand on the veranda overlooking the vast ocean.

Mr. Tran Nam Chung, chief of the working group, pointed to the distant green dot and explained, "In the middle is the smallest and lowest island, Thay Boi. On the right is Hon Dua, an island in the southwest, whereas on the left are Cambodian islands. The island of Thay Boi is the dividing line between the islands of the two countries. The vessel is located in Cambodia's Historic Water Area."

The goal is also the mission of the ship KN-506 on this business trip, which is to detect, prevent, and handle illegal fishing violations while also propagating, supporting, and encouraging fishermen to exploit fisheries in accordance with the law in Vietnamese waters, removing the IUU yellow card gradually.

Paying bribes on the sea: pay daily exploitation fee

On the morning of September 13, five officers from the KN-506 vessels approached a fishing vessel operating in the Vietnam - Cambodia Historic Water Area with the control plate KG-93804-TS. It was reported over the phone that this fishing vessel had committed numerous violations, including having a driver without a captain's license, failing to maintain a fishing journal, etc. The proposed plan is to document the violation immediately and then assign the commander to the Fishery Inspection vessel.

Mr. Ho Van Buon, 46, was the helmsman of KG-93804, and he appeared perplexed and concerned. Mr. Tran Nam Chung calmed him down after the administration verified the procedures. Then, Mr. Buon confessed to his violations.

Mr. Buon, with tears in his eyes, explained that he is the primary provider for his wife and two children, the eldest of whom is 16 and the youngest of whom is 8 years old. During the COVID-19 epidemic, all fishing and exploitation had to cease in accordance with anti-epidemic regulations. After the conclusion of the epidemic, he sailed again the previous year. His mother died after a few months, he returned to the mainland to take care of business, and he has only been back for a few months...

"Because I lack money to purchase a vessel, I rent one. The ship's owner pays for fuel, provisions, and crewmembers, and I am the captain. What is it priced at? The remainder is distributed proportionally, with the shipowner receiving 70%, the captain (chief engineer), and the personnel receiving the remaining 30%. This is a very demanding work, far from wife and children, and the entire family relies on seafarers for support. If you strike the fish hub and have a surplus, you will have revenue, but if you don't, you won't have enough money for oil and won't be able to share with your crew," Mr. Buon revealed.

Mr. Buon's duo of twin-hulled vessels set sail on August 23, nearly a month ago. 250 million VND were earned from selling fish to the new procuring vessel. Mr. Buon exhaled regretfully, "If this continues, we'll all starve to death because there's no money to share."

The problem of foreign vessels (primarily Cambodian vessels) appearing in the historic waters area within the territory of Cambodia and collecting fishing fees on a per-day or per-month basis is an additional burden that many Vietnamese fishing vessels must endure.

In 2019, it was quite common for Vietnamese fishing vessels to be "ruled" by Cambodian vessels. Typically, subjects traveling on motorboats approaching Vietnamese fishing boats also wear the costumes of Cambodian law enforcement forces, but no one can confirm whether they are "real" forces or not because so many subjects impersonate them, exploiting the vast sea area to threaten fishing vessels at sea.

If the fishermen do not comply, their boat will be towed back, their assets and artifacts will be confiscated, and they will be held for ransom at a rate of 50 million VND per person. "There are instances in which Vietnamese fishermen are operating in internal waters, foreign ships appear and pull into their waters, film and take photographs as false evidence, then tow the ship, confiscate property, and take all of the fish captured by the Vietnamese. "These individuals are 100 percent not law enforcement officers; they are impersonators," stated Chung.

In response to feedback from fishermen, Region V Fisheries supervision has organized increased surveillance and supervision of the sea area to prevent the occurrence described above. When they saw the silhouette of the Vietnamese Fisheries Surveillance ship, the aforementioned individuals did not dare operate or flee.

The majority of ship owners and captains violate the law as a result of ineffective seafood exploitation in Vietnamese waters; there are instances in which, under pressure to repay bank debt when investing in means of practice at sea, they dispatch fishing vessels to foreign waters to engage in illicit seafood exploitation.