Removing the EC 'yellow card' in Binh Thuan: Need to get involved more comprehensively

No more fishing vessels violate foreign waters

On May 29, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien led the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to work with the Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee on the implementation situation of the work against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in this province.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that combating IUU fishing has been identified by Binh Thuan as a key and urgent task. Therefore, in recent times, the involvement of the entire political system has been mobilized to thoroughly grasp and strictly implement the directions of the Permanent Member of the Secretariat, the Prime Minister, and the National Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Prevention in order to overcome the recommendations of the European Commission (EC) and solve the IUU "yellow card" warning.

Accordingly, functional units and localities have drastically and synchronously implemented many solutions, such as combining dissemination, mobilization, requiring commitment signing, regularly compiling statistics, making lists, and putting "high-risk" fishing vessels under special supervision.

At the same time, assign officers, soldiers, and party members in the area to be in charge of monitoring, supervising, and promptly preventing fishing vessels from violating foreign waters; Organize a 24-hour duty station at the Fishing Vessel Monitoring Center to remind ship owners to maintain VMS signals when operating at sea, as well as warn and detect fishing vessels crossing sea boundaries and request them to promptly return to Vietnamese waters. Along with that, strictly handle violations, organize community reviews, and widely publicize.

With the above-mentioned drastic measures, the situation of fishing vessels and fishermen violating foreign waters has been prevented quite thoroughly. Apart from the case of a violating fishing vessel being arrested by Malaysia in early 2023, as of now, there have been no more fishing vessels violating foreign waters.

Regarding fleet management, up to now, the province has compiled statistics and granted temporary registration to 2,348/2,515 "3 no" fishing vessels. At the same time, send the list to the functional forces and local governments to closely monitor and manage them and not allow them to leave the port for exploitation without following the prescribed procedures. In the coming time, the province will continue to review and inspect to grant registration according to MARD's Circular No. 06/2024.

As of now, Binh Thuan has 1,942 operating fishing vessels with a length of 15 m or more installed with cruise monitoring equipment, reaching 100%.

The traceability of seafood is strictly controlled according to regulations. Thanks to that, up to now, all confirmed and certified seafood shipments have been cleared through customs, and no documents have been returned.

Regarding law enforcement and handling of violations, for a fishing vessel arrested by Malaysia in 2023, the province fined the violating ship owner VND 900 million.

Mr. Tran Dinh Luan, Director of the Department of Fisheries, proposed that Binh Thuan province need to strictly control and handle "3 no" vessels, as well as mark fishing vessels and severely punish violating fishing vessels. Ships losing connection for a long time must also be closely monitored, because these ships are at risk of fishing on the wrong route. Besides, ensuring food safety on fishing vessels also requires inspection, supervision, and sanctions according to regulations.

Many shortcomings and limitations still exist

Previously, MARD's delegation inspected the actual work of combating IUU fishing at La Gi and Phan Thiet fishing ports and the Phan Thiet Fishing Port Control Representative Office, Provincial Sub-Department of Fisheries, Binh Thuan Provincial Fishing Vessel Monitoring Center.

At the working session, Mr. Pham Ngoc Tuan, Head of the Department of Fishing Vessel Management and Fishery Logistics Services (Department of Fisheries), said that through inspection at La Gi fishing port, the control of fishing vessels taking place 1 hour in advance has not yet been strictly implemented. Therefore, he assumes that the locality needs to rectify this problem in the coming time as well as ensure environmental hygiene at this fishing port.

In addition, the "3 no" fishing vessels that the locality has currently implemented for temporary registration need to be switched to registration according to regulations in the coming time.

Mr. Vu Duyen Hai, Head of the Fisheries Exploitation Department (Department of Fisheries), said that currently, the control of seafood output through ports in the province is still low. Localities still have many fishing vessels that are subject to inspection and registration. Therefore, the province must strictly control fishing vessels of this type, especially in La Gi town.

Besides, Mr. Hai also noted that localities need statistics on operating fishing vessels  because this is an issue that the EC pays great attention to when inspecting. In addition, updating the list of fishing vessels at high risk of violating IUU fishing needs to be done promptly and regularly for strict management.

This issue requires the Border Guard and police to take drastic action and review suspicious subjects. Meanwhile, localities review ships that frequently lose connection and put ship owners, captains, and crew at high risk on a blacklist for strict management right on shore.

In addition to the above-mentioned issues, MARD's delegation also pointed out shortcomings in some species traceability monitoring records that were not standard. The sanctioning of administrative violations on IUU is not strict, and the records of sanctions are incomplete because they do not clearly describe the violation.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that to remove the "yellow card," it is necessary to have unanimous determination and work reliably and responsibly. Removing the "yellow card" is very important; it is for the honor and benefit of the nation and the people. Therefore, with unresolved problems, localities need to quickly overcome them. Specifically, fleet management, handling of administrative violations, and implementation of electronic traceability requirements.

The Deputy Minister hopes that everyone who has tried will try harder because time is only available from now until September. The Provincial Party Committee and unions that have already participated need to get involved more comprehensively, deeply, effectively, and efficiently. "From there, we will definitely resolve the "yellow card" in 2024 in accordance with Resolution 32 of the Secretariat," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien believes.

Concluding the working session, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Vice Chairman of Binh Thuan Province, asked the departments and branches to receive the opinions of MARD's delegation. At the same time, he said that next June, the province will hold a meeting to resolve each shortcoming and limitation that the delegation, as well as Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, pointed out.