Loss of route-tracking signal complicates the management of fishing vessels

Ca Mau province has taken drastic and synchronized measures to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in recent years, in tandem with the efforts of the entire nation to remove the "yellow card" warning issued by the European Commission (EC) against Vietnamese seafood.

Along with coastal communities, the province of Ca Mau is always at the vanguard of its efforts to combat IUU fishing. By the end of September 2023, provincial authorities will have identified and fined over 5.2 billion VND for more than 150 violations of fisheries exploitation. There were 87 transgressions of IUU fishing totaling 4.3 billion VND, and 20 violations of fishing vessel monitoring totaling 948 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Trieu, Deputy Director of the Ca Mau Provincial Fisheries Sub-Department, stated that through increased surveillance and rigorous control of seafood exploitation activities, the Sub-Department and authorities have dealt with violation cases in a stringent manner. Therefore, the incidence of fishing vessels invading foreign waters tends to decline, but the situation remains complex.

According to Mr. Trieu, the current problem is that fishing vessels equipped with cruise monitoring equipment frequently lose connection for unidentified reasons. Currently, there is no independent facility, agency, or organization with the ability to determine the cause of connection loss with precision. Owners of ships and suppliers place the responsibility on one another, which impacts management, investigation, verification, and handling.

Ca Mau continues to resolutely manage cases of premeditated violations of regulations governing IUU exploitation in preparation for the EC's fourth inspection mission in October 2023. Improve, consolidate, and perfect the enforcement of fisheries law; Continue to research and establish local fisheries surveillance forces appropriate to the actual situation.

Additionally, increase the responsibility of surveyors when registering fishing vessels. Assign local leaders responsibility if local fishing vessels and fishermen exploit seafood in violation of foreign waters; Fishing vessels whose registration and registration have expired are detected at sea and penalized by the authorities.

Currently, the majority of Ca Mau fishermen are well-educated and responsible in combating seafood exploitation in accordance with Vietnamese law and European Union recommendations against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; they do not purchase, process, or export aquatic products of IUU origin.

Ca Mau recommends that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development increase the speed of access to the fishing vessel surveillance system and integrated electronic mining log in order to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing more effectively, particularly in terms of transparency in all related activities. In addition, promulgate time-specific regulations for implementing responsibilities and civil procedures in the purchase and sale of fishing vessels and the conversion of fishing license quotas.

Ca Mau Province proposes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through diplomatic and foreign affairs work to request foreign competent forces (or Vietnamese Embassies abroad) to provide information and documents related to fishing vessels arrested and handled by foreign countries, to serve as a basis for provincial authorities to consolidate records of sanctions in accordance with regulations, as well as to comprehend the situation of seafarers arrested by foreign authorities.

At the same time, associations related to processing and exporting Vietnamese seafood and businesses need to earnestly implement their commitment to only buy legally exploited aquatic products and not violate regulations on IUU exploitation.

Ca Mau has attained a 100 percent rate of marked fishing vessels and fishing vessels equipped with cruise monitoring equipment by mid-September 2023. Ca Mau also completely updated the fishing vessel data on the VN-Fishbase software system and the fishing vessel monitoring system. Create a weekly inventory for monitoring and management of fishing vessels at high risk of IUU fishing violations. In addition, 24/7 monitoring and supervision at the fishing vessel monitoring system ensures complete control of all 15-meter-plus fishing vessels at sea.