Struggling to deal with 'devils' fishing vessels at sea

Quang Nam province has a coastline of about 125km, which is a favourable condition for developing fisheries. In addition to large offshore fishing vessels, many local people in this province are also making a living from coastal fisheries with smaller capacity vessels.

However, in recent years, the raging of trawling fishing boats has caused the near-shore seafood exploitation of Quang Nam fishermen to be significantly affected. Trawling boats, especially double trawlers, operate by dropping nets to the seabed and then starting the engine for the boat to pull them away. Because the scope of the net includes both the bottom and the surface, large and small seafood are captured, coral is destroyed, and coastal ecosystems are persecuted.

Not only that, the trawlers all have a large capacity. According to regulations, they must catch seafood on the offshore route. However, on the open route, they blatantly go against the coastal route. This type of fishing not only reduces aquatic resources and destroys the marine environment, but also destroys the fishing gear of small-capacity vessels.

Mr Tran Minh Tap (Thuan An village, Tam Hai commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam) said: “In the area, there are hundreds of small fish fishing households. Recently, illegal fishing boats have caused people's nets to be torn beyond repair, while many households do not have the capital to invest in new nets and fishing gear. Local fishermen hope that the authorities will completely control, handle and protect this problem".

Tam Tien coastal commune (Nui Thanh district) is the locality with the most rake-crushing boats in Quang Nam province with more than 70 ships. To protect aquatic resources in coastal fishing grounds, from November 2022, this locality has established a Community Group to protect the aquatic resources of Ba Dau reef. Since coming into operation, this community group has mobilized several trawling boat owners to switch to investing in seafood fishing using anchovy seine nets, light seine nets, and shooting nets...

However, according to some fishermen who practice trawling, despite propaganda and advocacy, it is very difficult to switch to another fishing profession because of insufficient capital. If you invest in buying nets and fishing gear for professions such as gillnets, purse seines, and capture nets, it costs hundreds of millions of VND. Therefore, when converting, they expect the government to support them with resources.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Uy, Vice Chairman of the Tam Tien Commune People's Committee said: "Regarding changing occupations for trawling fishing boats, We hope that the fisheries sector will advise the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to propose that the Provincial People's Committee submit to the Provincial People's Council to have a mechanism to support career change for fishermen. I see in many provinces and cities across the country support at the level of VND 50 million, VND 100 million... for trawlers of different capacities to reinvest in friendly seafood exploitation".

According to statistics from the Department of Fisheries of Quang Nam province, in the province, there are 185 means of trawling fishing vessels. Among them, 42 small boats are allowed to operate along the shore; there are still 143 large ships that have to fish in the open sea. However, this is just a number on the list and in fact, many ships bypass the law and register to catch seafood using other occupations but are disguising themselves as fishermen.

However, detecting and handling fishing boats operating illegally and off-route is currently very difficult due to when ships operate at sea, it is difficult to determine which areas are open areas and which areas are coastal areas. In addition, these ships have not yet installed cruise monitoring equipment, so only when discovered by sea patrol and control forces will sanctions be imposed.

Mr Vo Van Long, Director of the Quang Nam Fisheries Department, admitted that controlling illegal trawlers is currently very difficult. The Department's fisheries inspection force is very thin, having only 4 people. While the equipment, machinery, and boats are not available, they mainly coordinate with the Border Guard to patrol each time, mainly for propaganda purposes.

“Quang Nam province is determined not to allow further development, and gradually eliminate fishing occupations that affect aquatic resources and the environment such as trawling. We are drafting a resolution to support career change for fishermen to advise the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to collect opinions from localities and submit them to the People's Committee and Provincial People's Council. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year and begin implementation early next year.

However, because the State budget is limited, the level of support is also limited, about VND 30-50 million for each case. Therefore, in addition to support, it is also necessary to promote advocacy and propaganda work as well as have heavy sanctions against illegal fishing boats", Mr. Long said.