Khanh Hoa thoroughly handled ships cutting connection to cruise monitoring equipment

Mr. Nguyen Trong Chanh, Director of Khanh Hoa Sub-Department of Fisheries, said that the unit was implementing an action plan against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and preparing for the 4^th working session with the Inspection Delegation of the European Commission (EC). Since the beginning of 2023, in addition to promoting media activities against IUU fishing, Khanh Hoa province has continued to complete the four EC recommendations.

Khanh Hoa currently has 3,198 fishing vessels, of which 100% have been registered and 99.6% have been issued fishing licenses. The province also has 677 fishing vessels with a length of 15 meters or more, of which 97% have been certified for food safety and hygiene, and 98.9% have been installed with cruise monitoring equipment.

The fishing port management boards have built a process to inspect import and export fishing vessels listed at fishing ports. As required by regulations, 100% of fishing vessels' docking and departure from the port must be announced to the fishing port management board one hour in advance.

The Sub-Department of Fisheries arranges staff to work 24/7 at representative offices and coordinate with the Provincial Border Guard Command and the Port Management Boards to inspect and control fishing vessels landing and leaving the port in accordance with regulations.

Since the beginning of the year, the total output of seafood through the ports has reached 1,843 tons, with 930 ship returns docking at the port. Representative offices of fisheries inspection and control have inspected 349 ship returns that have left and landed at the port, with an output of 1,232 tons.

Moreover, the representative offices inspected and issued 39 certificates of aquatic materials for 866 tons of seafood and certified fisheries for 31 consignments with 294 tons of seafood. The certification records of aquatic material origin have been fully and systematically stored.

Regarding law enforcement and the handling of violations, functional forces such as the Sub-Department of Fisheries, the Border Guard, and localities regularly coordinate to patrol, inspect, handle, and prevent violations of IUU fishing at sea.

As for results, Khanh Hoa province has carried out 64 patrols and control activities in the waters of Cam Ranh, Van Ninh, Ninh Hoa, and Nha Trang, punishing 35 of 96 cases with an amount of over VND 671 million, temporarily seizing one rake cage, and confiscating 13 electric guns.

According to Mr. Nguyen Trong Chanh, of the above-mentioned sanctioned ships, 22 cases were fined a total of VND 550 million for failing to maintain the operation of cruise monitoring equipment during their operations at sea. These ships are also deprived of the right to use diplomas and the certificate of captain.

It has been noticed that there are still many fishing vessels in the province that have lost connection with cruise monitoring equipment. The Provincial Fishing Vessel Monitoring Center (Sub-Department of Fisheries) has sent a notice to the Provincial Border Guard. The Khanh Hoa Provincial IUU Steering Committee has also requested that the Provincial Border Guard Command direct its attached units to verify and thoroughly handle fishing vessels that have lost connection.

Along with that, coordinate with relevant forces to strictly control and resolutely not allow the departure and arrival of fishing vessels that do not comply with IUU regulations.

Regarding fishing activities in localities, Khanh Hoa Provincial IUU Steering Committee requested to review fishing vessels that are no longer present in the locality, thereby coordinating with the Sub-Department of Fisheries to carry out procedures for deregistration according to regulations. Localities shall preside and collaborate with relevant units to locate fishing vessels that have stopped using VMS services, ships that have not yet installed cruise monitoring devices, thus requesting the above ship owners not to operate fisheries without fully complying with regulations on IUU.

It is known that Khanh Hoa Province has 165 ships that are stopping connecting to VMS services, causing difficulties in management, including Nha Trang city (111), Van Ninh district (27), Cam Ranh city (17), Ninh Hoa town (9), and Cam Lam district (1).