Strengthening fishing vessel monitoring and management

On October 23, 2017, the European Commission (EC) officially warned Vietnam of a yellow card for seafood exported to this market because it did not meet anti-illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing regulations.

Since the warning, Vietnam has made great efforts to comply with the requirements set forth by the EC. In November 2019, the EC inspection team visited Vietnam to assess Vietnam's efforts in implementing the recommendations on anti IUU fishing.

In a report sent to the Directorate of Fisheries of Vietnam (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) on December 19, 2019, the EC inspection team noted Vietnam's significant improvements in fishing vessel monitoring and management. In addition, the process of managing and organizing fishing vessels and commodities through the port is implemented flexibly and efficiently.

Vietnam has also made great efforts to install a fishing vessel monitoring and management system, introduce regulations and implement equipment marking based on EC recommendations.

The EC inspection team highly appreciated Vietnam's promotions to strengthen fishing density management through freezing offshore fishing fleets. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also issued a decision to assign quotas for licensing offshore fishing to 28 coastal provinces.

Vietnam has made positive changes in building a fishing vessel database, updating fishing vessel licensing information, and planning for sustainable fishing vessel development. Previously, Vietnam did not have a monitoring system at the port, but now it has been deployed as a model in Kien Giang to control fishing vessels effectively.

However, the EC also pointed out some shortcomings, such as the slow progress of installing cruise monitoring equipment on fishing vessels. In addition, the monitoring system is not being synchronized. There are still many technical errors, and the sanctioning violations are limited.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phu Quoc, Deputy Director of the Fisheries Control Department (General Department of Fisheries - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), installing equipment to monitor fishing vessels is a new regulation in the Fisheries Law. Accordingly, fishing vessels with a length of 15 meters or more must install cruise monitoring equipment.

Mr. Nguyen Phu Quoc also said that the installation of cruise monitoring equipment for fishing vessels must comply with technical requirements.

Specifically, the cruise monitoring equipment must be connected to the fishing vessel monitoring data center in the central and 28 coastal provinces and cities. Ships with a length of 24 meters or more are required to transmit position information 12 times a day, equivalent to 2 hours once, and 15m - 24m train is 3 hours of information transmission once.

"The Directorate of Fisheries is the agency that manages the entire fishing vessel monitoring system from the central to local levels. All ship owners are required to install cruise control equipment and report to the data center. If the device is damaged, it must be reported within ten days for handling. If fishing vessel owners intentionally do not provide information, they will be punished according to Decree 42 of the Government", Mr. Nguyen Phu Quoc shared.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the end of August 2021, the percentage of fishing vessels with a length of 15 meters or more installing cruise monitoring equipment reached 90.26%. The fishing vessel monitoring system and database have been connected, shared, and deployed synchronously from the central to local levels. Of the nearly 10% of ships that have not yet installed a locator, some are because fishers have not yet paid fees for monitoring equipment, some are still ashore and have not come into operation.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an anti-IUU regulation promulgated by the European Commission (EC) in Regulation No. 1005/20081 that comes into effect from October 1, 2010. The objective of the IUU is to establish an EU-wide system to prevent and eliminate the importation of IUU-caught fishery products into the EU market.