Removing the yellow card for IUU fishing through the development of fishing port infrastructure

During the inspection of the IUU fishing against at Ninh Co Fishing Port, Thinh Long Town, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh on April 6, Director General of the General Department of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan commented, the attention, Investment in the construction of fishing port infrastructure has created the impetus for the development of seafood exploitation, especially offshore fishing, helping to reduce post-harvest losses.

One of the points of Ninh Co Fishing Port highly appreciated by Mr. Luan is that the port is not currently confused with repair services, so it is easy to plan items in the development of infrastructure and services moving towards building a modern fishing port.

Ninh Co fishing port has a total area of ​​95,686m2 with construction items such as a 192m long pier, two anchorage locks with 200 ships (capacity from 20 - 90CV), clean water supply station with a total of 300m3. /day and night… This is also the place to supply local necessities for ships and fishing boats, a safe shelter for ships when there is a storm.

The Director-General of the Directorate of Fisheries suggested that localities further strengthen the propaganda of fishermen about combating IUU fishing. For example, bring entire ship and boat records; strictly implement the declaration 1 hour in advance when the ship arrives and leaves the port; log the fishing journey, catch in the acceptable fishing regions, facilitating traceability.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Hau district, the number of near-shore fishing vessels in the district decreased from 773 in 2015 to 430 ships; the number of offshore fishing vessels increased from 147 in 2015 to 199 in 2020, with a total engine capacity of over 100,000 CV, 1.67 times higher than in 2015.

Hai Hau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development regularly cooperates with the Fisheries Sub-Department, Border Guard Stations, and Nam Dinh Fishing Port Management Board to organize training and propagate the Fisheries Law 2017 and regulations against IUU fishing to fishers, ship owners, captains, and owners of fishing vessels in the area.

In 2015, Ninh Co Fishing Port was selected to be planned as a class 1 fishing port. Thanks to synchronous equipment, the port's cargo handling are mechanized up to 90%. The loading and unloading of goods, removing the means of transport are convenient and quick, contributing to the effective exploitation of technical infrastructure at fishing ports, reducing heavy manual labor and improving the productivity of commodity exploitation, lowering costs, and partially solving the labor shortage.

However, the current fishing port infrastructure and anchorage areas for ships and boats in Nam Dinh have not kept up with the development of fisheries. For example, the expansion investment plan included Thanh Vui fishing port. However, the capital is limited, so the piers and wharves are still narrow, unable to receive large ships, and the creeks leading to the port are still filled up, causing challenges to get in and out.

In addition, the mooring area for ships and boats to avoid storms combined with Ha Lan estuary fishing pier has just been put into operation, so the management and operation still have some limitations, especially the reception of fishing boats. Large ships with a length of 24m or more.

Mr. Tran Dinh Luan, Director of the General Department of Fisheries, affirmed that removing the yellow card for IUU fishing must go through step by step, in the spirit of "no matter how difficult it is to remove".

"Management of more than 91,700 ships and boats nationwide is not a simple challenge, especially when production costs, gasoline prices, and input material prices increase daily. Based on a legal system that has been developed in the future In full, we will support the locality in the training of managers, promote the implementation of science and technology to remove the yellow card for IUU fishing in the period 2022-2023 as directed by the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development", Mr. Luan emphasized.

In addition, the Fishing Port Management Board of Nam Dinh province will contact the border guard force to check, make a record and handle fishing vessels fishing beyond the permitted boundary, fishing boats from other provinces committing administrative violations in the fisheries sector; also promptly remind fishermen to bring entire ship and boat records and strictly comply with the declaration when the ship arrives and leaves the port.