Quang Ninh needs to act quickly and resolutely to remove the IUU 'yellow card'

Tighten the management of fishing vessels

Currently, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province has directed its departments and localities to focus on implementing solutions to address existing issues in order to remove the IUU “yellow card”.

To achieve this, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Ninh has established an interdisciplinary task force to inspect and implement the recommendations of the EC inspection delegation regarding combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in 4 key districts, towns, and cities. The task force will check, guide, and handle issues related to granting fishing permits, controlling the entry and exit of fishing vessels, and installing monitoring equipment for vessel movements.

The province is also concentrating on implementing measures to accurately record the number of fishing vessels in each area and organizing temporary registration for fishing vessels. Fishing vessels arriving at or leaving ports will be subject to regular inspections and controls as required. A list of high-risk fishing vessels involved in IUU activities will be compiled every 10 days and sent to relevant agencies for coordinated handling.

Operating units will maintain a 24/7 vessel monitoring system and establish a Zalo group comprising 233 offshore fishing vessel owners to regularly provide information, guidance, warnings, and maintain Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) connectivity. This ensures communication with vessels crossing maritime boundaries and alerts in case of VMS disconnections during their activities at sea. Quang Ninh has had no fishing vessels violating regulations or being apprehended and processed by foreign law enforcement agencies.

To control the volume of fishery products during fishing vessel entry and exit from ports, based on practical situations, the province has set up 10 temporary inspection points at ports, docks, and storm shelters. This serves as a foundation for localities to propose plans and allocate funding for investment in fishing ports to improve and synchronize the fishing infrastructure and control vessel activities and fishing yields.

During the first 7 months of 2023, the whole province detected and handled 317 administrative violations, collecting a total of 4.28 billion VND for the state budget. All information and data related to administrative violations in the fields of exploitation, protection, and IUU fishing are fully updated on the monitoring and management system for handling administrative violations in the fisheries sector and stored in accordance with regulations.

In May 2023, six provinces and cities including Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh signed a coordination charter to enhance prevention and handling of IUU fishing violations.

Removing existing difficulties require immediate attention

On the morning of August 5, the inter-agency working delegation led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien had a field inspection at Cai Rong fishing port (Van Don district) and held a meeting with the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province regarding the removal of the EC's “yellow card” on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

During the meeting, Mr. Vu Van Dien, Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee, affirmed that the province has achieved certain results in combating IUU, but there are still existing issues that need to be addressed and difficulties that require support from central units, including the MARD.

Specifically, Quang Ninh province has no fishing vessels violating foreign waters and being detained or handled by foreign forces. The province has 233 fishing vessels operating in offshore waters with a length of 15 meters and above, which have been registered and granted fishing licenses and seafood hygiene and safety certificates, reaching 100% compliance. All 4,574 fishing vessels with a length of 6 meters and above have their information updated in the national fisheries database (Vnfishbase). Additionally, all 233 fishing vessels with a length of 15 meters and above are equipped with voyage monitoring devices.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized that the removal of the IUU “yellow card” should be promptly, resolutely, and effectively implemented.

According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, the work of removing the IUU “yellow card” in Quang Ninh has not achieved the expected high results, and there are still important warnings that have not met the conditions for removal. For example, Quang Ninh still has a large number of small-sized and low-capacity fishing vessels, and the management of fishing vessels and logbooks is not yet synchronized.

Furthermore, there are still cases of fishing vessels with a length of 15 meters and above losing connection to voyage monitoring devices while operating at sea. The control and reporting of fishing vessels and catch at ports are still low, and the data exchange among units in the Fisheries Control Office is not detailed enough.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Son, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Ninh province, stated that in the coming time, the province will complete the registration, inspection, and issuance of fishing permits for fishing vessels; enhance the rate of inspection, control, and traceability of exploited aquatic resources; conduct patrols, inspections, and law enforcement regarding fisheries, IUU exploitation regulations at sea, and in fishing ports.

Along with that, they will continue to raise awareness and consciousness among officials, authorities at all levels, and fishermen about fisheries laws and IUU exploitation regulations. They will effectively implement Decision No. 1077/QD-TTg dated September 14, 2022, of the Prime Minister approving the Project on preventing and combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing until 2025. This is aimed at eventually removing the IUU “yellow card” as soon as possible.

Quang Ninh is planning to establish a local fisheries inspection force following the model of the Fisheries Control Department under the Sub-Department of Fisheries (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development). The Department will be renamed into the Sub-Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control after adding provisions on its functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.