Phu Yen handles fishing vessels violating IUU regulations

Overcoming the existing limitation

Faced with the shortcomings and limitations pointed out by the MARD mission in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Phu Yen province last April, Mr Dao Quang Minh, Director of Phu Yen Fisheries Sub-Department, said that the locality is still trying to overcome the issue.

Accordingly, in terms of propaganda, the Sub-department has continuously increased information on many channels, including signing a contract with the Phu Yen Coastal Radio Station to broadcast news on the radio system at the appropriate time for fishermen to grasp when participating in fishing at sea. In addition, in the process of checking the paperwork or going to the facility, the Sub-department also propagates to the fishermen.

For fleet management, the Sub-Department is actively enforcing when establishing working groups in each commune and ward to guide fishing vessel owners to complete the registration procedures, and fishing licenses as prescribed.

According to Mr Dao Quang Minh, the whole province has 1,925 fishing vessels named in the national register of fishing vessels, of which 655 vessels with a length of 15m or more currently exploit aquatic products in the high seas. Currently, offshore fishing vessels have installed cruise monitoring equipment in more than 98%. For 9 fishing boats that have not gone under installment, localities are now strictly managing these vessels, forbidding them to catch fish in accordance with regulations.

“Currently we closely monitor fishing vessels fishing at sea. Now, if the ships keep losing connection for more than 10 days or more, we will consolidate the complete dossier and sanction them according to regulations," Mr Minh emphasized.

It is known that from the beginning of the year until now, the Sub-department has sanctioned 6 cases of ships losing connection briefly at sea, with a total amount of nearly VND 120 million. At the same time, the captains were also deprived of their licenses for 4 months.

In addition, the People's Committee of Phu Yen province also sanctioned one case of VND 400 million for the act of "failing to maintain the operation of cruise monitoring equipment during operations at sea for fishing vessels with a maximum length of 24 meters or more". The captain of this ship was also stripped of his license for 9 months.

In addition, the Fisheries Sub-Department of Phu Yen province has carried out 5 orders to dispatch inspection ships on IUU and Inspectors of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development organized a specialized inspection of fisheries and fined 4 cases of violations with more than VND 22 million. The Provincial Border Force has conducted 76 sea patrols and fined vessels nearly VND 130 million. Thanks to the drastic management of fishing vessels, from 2019 to now, Phu Yen province has had no fishing vessels illegally fishing in foreign waters.

As for the traceability of seafood, the Sub-department has directed the fishing department to review all records and input data on input documents on the basis of the management unit's software. This is for faster access, ensuring high accuracy, and timely response of inspection agencies.

Fishermen contribute to removing the EC "yellow card"

Recorded at Dong Tac fishing port (Tuy Hoa city) in the early days of this July, we witnessed many fishing vessels carrying out procedures for disembarkation. Including the ship PY-92549-TS specializing in catching tuna, led by fisherman Do Nhu Duc in Phu Dong ward (Tuy Hoa city) as the captain.

Meeting with us, fisherman Do Nhu Duc said, to comply with the legal regulations, as well as the EC's recommendations, ship owners and captains all declare to the competent authorities fully before disembarking. And when docking the fishing boat, they also notify 1 hour in advance to the fishing port management board. After the ships docked, they all submit a full fishing log to the fishing port.

“This work has been done by my ship as well as other ships for many years now. Especially in the process of fishing, my ship is determined not to violate foreign waters," the fisherman Duc expressed and added, Currently, offshore fishermen in Phu Yen province are very aware of removing the "yellow card" of the EC, so they have not violated foreign waters for many years. Because ships infringing on foreign waters have to pay a very high price, not only heavy administrative fines, having been stripped of their license to practice but also affecting the removal of the "yellow card" of Vietnamese seafood as well as affecting all fishermen across the country to make a living when under a "red card".

Mr Ha Vien, Director of Phu Yen Fishing Port Management Board, said that through monitoring, ships exploiting the high seas in the area that are currently performing very well in disembarkation and must report to the Port Management Board in advance, then they have to report to the representative office to organize the inspection according to Circular 01 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. When docking the ships they must also submit a full catch log to help trace the origin of seafood.

Stay attentive to IUU

To continue to perform well the task, overcome the shortcomings and limitations, Mr. Nguyen Tri Phuong, Deputy Director of Phu Yen Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said, The Provincial People's Committee recently issued a document directing and assigning specific tasks to all levels and branches; organizations and individuals responsible for directing against IUU fishing.

Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee requires departments, branches and coastal localities to drastically and urgently implement tasks and solutions according to plan No. 67 dated March 17, 2023, of the Provincial People's Committee on “action against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, preparing to work with the 4th EC Inspection Delegation”; Directive No. 05 dated April 26, 2023 of the Provincial People's Committee.

Along with that, localities are responsible for coordinating with Border Guard forces to set up teams and crews to manage and supervise fleet arrivals and departures, the output of aquatic products unloaded at the wharves, and traditional fishing points, with monthly reports to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Chairmen of People's Committees of coastal districts, towns and cities are responsible to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for the results of anti-IUU fishing. In addition, the Provincial People's Committee also asked localities to actively coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant units to develop specific roadmaps and plans to guide and support fishing vessel owners to complete the prescribed procedures as soon as possible.

Regarding the preparation work for the 4th EC delegation, according to Mr Ha Vien, the unit has developed a detailed and specific plan. In which, staff was assigned to monitor and supervise fishing vessels entering and leaving the port, as well as monitoring complete records and books and supervising the loading and unloading of seafood through the port 100% of the time. Especially, receiving the log to compare the cruise monitoring data to ensure that the ships are exploiting in the waters of Vietnam, by the fishing license. In addition, the unit has also assigned staff to clean and manage all data to promptly provide information to relevant agencies, as well as when the EC delegation requests them