Paying dearly for violating IUU fishing: Taking a risk once, regretting all the life

Lost all assets, burdened with debt

It was mid-afternoon when we arrived at the house of Ms. Dang Thi Nu (born in 1987) in Vinh Truong village, Cat Hanh commune (Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh), but at this time she had just returned home disappointedly after the market. Ms. Nu is listed as the owner of the fishing vessel with number BD 31224 TS (230CV), which was recently arrested by Malaysian law enforcement forces on April 4, 2024, for fishing in this country's waters.

Ms. Nu's husband, fisherman Nguyen Cu (born in 1977) in Cat Minh commune (Phu Cat district), captain and steersman of the fishing vessel BD 31224 TS, and five crew members were all arrested by Malaysia.

Fisherman Nguyen Cu was sentenced to 160 days in prison by the Malaysian functional sector; five crew members were sentenced to 60 days; and the violating fishing vessel was confiscated by the host country. The family's main worker, fisherman Nguyen Cu, was detained, so all the worries for his three children's education fell on Ms. Nu.

Ms. Nu's fishing vessel has been arrested for nearly 3 months, but when she talked to us, her face still looked blank.

In 2004, Ms. Nu became a daughter-in-law in the coastal region. Because her husband's family had a fishing vessel, Ms. Nu got used to welcoming the ship to shore after each sea trip, contacting the trader to buy fish, then contacting agents supplying fuel, food, and ice to buy for each trip. Because the ship is old, has a small capacity, and operates inappropriately, on every sea trip, Ms. Nu and her husband have to make up for the loss because the revenue is not enough to cover the fees. Being frustrated, in 2020, Ms. Nu and her husband decided to sell the ship.

Being a coastal person with no more fishing vessels and no job on the shore, Mr. Cu did the job of sailing for another fishing vessel. The income was also unstable, so in 2022, Ms. Nu and her husband decided to borrow to buy the fishing vessel BD 31224 TS for VND 280 million. Because it was an old ship, Ms. Nu and her husband had to spend more than VND 100 million to repair and renovate it to be able to go out to sea for squid fishing.

Since buying the ship, fisherman Nguyen Cu has not once let the ship dock at the fishing ports of Binh Dinh province. After each sea trip, Mr. Cu's fishing vessel landed in Ba Ria-Vung Tau to sell products and prepare for a new trip. In the years 2022–2023, the fishing vessel BD 31224 TS of Ms. Nu and her husband have made seven sea trips and suffered losses on all seven trips. Unable to afford the debt, Ms. Nu and her husband left the ship anchored until early 2024.

According to Ms. Nu, the job of sailing is no longer to get a share after completing the sea trip, but the ship owner almost has to "buy" friends. Before the ship sailed away, without money, the ship owner had to borrow to advance each crew member VND 9 million. If the trip is successful, after selling the product, the crew will receive more, but if the trip is a loss, the ship owner will bear it.

"In recent years, every sea trip has been at a loss, so I have been in debt. Currently, for credit debt alone, I still owe VND 850 million, not including payday loans from outside to pay advances to traders and compensate for losses. Before each trip, the trader would advance money so I could make purchases and sell products to pay off debts. In recent years, there have been no fish or squid to catch, so on every sea trip I have to borrow money from outside to pay the trader; new debts pile up on old debts," Ms. Dang Thi Nu lamented.

Both confiscated the ship and fined nearly VND 1 billion

During the time the ship was anchored in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ms. Nu and her husband had no income, while they had to spend money to hire workers to keep the ship. Last December on the lunar calendar, Mr. Cu decided to take a fishing trip by his ship BD 31224 TS through the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin 2024 to earn income for his wife and children to celebrate Tet. Unexpectedly, that sea trip continued to suffer losses.

Entering January on the lunar calendar, Mr. Cu continued to sail for his second trip this year. This trip was luckier, but the income was only enough to cover the loss without any interest. On the third trip, the ship departed from Ba Ria-Vung Tau on March 26, and on April 4, 2024, the ship was arrested by Malaysian law enforcement forces in waters 70 nautical miles from the coast of Terengganu (Malaysia).

"When my husband and I heard the story of local fishermen's fishing vessels trespassing in foreign waters being captured, we were also scared. Probably due to too much loss, on this trip, my husband took the risk of going to Malaysian waters and was arrested.

I just contacted my husband, and he encouraged me to try to work to support my children's education so that they can escape the marine profession in the future. Hearing that I just received a decision to fine VND 900 million from the Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee against the owner of a fishing vessel that violated IUU fishing, my husband regrets it very much. Because his fishing vessel has been confiscated and he is now in prison, while he was even fined nearly VND 1 billion," said Ms. Dang Thi Nu.

The family's means of business have been lost; the husband is currently in prison in a foreign country; the eldest son is taking the university entrance exam this year; the middle child is going to high school; and the youngest child still goes to kindergarten. Meanwhile, she still has to take care of her sick 73-year-old father-in-law in the countryside, so many worries are weighing heavily on Ms. Nu's shoulders.

Ms. Nu has to worry about how her husband's health is and whether the recent sad incident has caused him to have a mental breakdown or not, so her face is blank, without any vitality left, when talking to us. Then we know the price to pay for fishing in foreign waters is too expensive.

The consequences are obvious, but only in April and May 2024, in Phu Cat district (Binh Dinh), were there up to five fishing vessels violating foreign waters that were arrested by law enforcement forces.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Thanh, Standing Vice Chairman of the Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee, said that this province has just issued a decision to fine owners of fishing vessels that violate IUU fishing with VND 900 million/case. In addition to Ms. Dang Thi Nu, fishing vessel owners Truong Huong, Nguyen Thi Hien, and Nguyen Thi Hang in Cat Minh commune and Le Thi Sang in Cat Tien town (Phu Cat district) all received similar penalty decisions.