Taking severe action against fishing vessels violating regulations

Promoting and communicating

The province of Nam Dinh has 2,140 fishing boats and a total of 6,231 workers engaged in direct fisheries exploitation offshore. The Gulf of Tonkin and the Central Coast are the primary fishing areas.

Hoang Manh Ha, Director of the Nam Dinh Fisheries Sub-Department, said that the unit works closely with relevant departments and industries to educate and distribute to fishermen the law's prohibitions on IUU fishing on a yearly basis. Additionally, it mobilizes ship owners and captains to sign commitments not to fishing in foreign waters' borders.

Additionally, it advised owners of ships with expired registration and fishing licences to contact regional fisheries stations for advice on completing registration processes, obtaining fishing licenses, certifying food safety for fishing boats, and marking fishing vessels with paint.

According to Nguyen Thanh Chung, Director of Nam Dinh Fishing Port Management Board, the Port Authority is responsible for controlling all fishing vessels departing and docking at Ninh Co fishing port; monitoring output, collecting fishing logs, reporting on catches following regulations, and organizing forces to conduct certification of exploited aquatic materials by ship owners' requirements.

Often, over 100 boats are moored at Ninh Co Fishing Port. Until recently, ships docked in the port have mostly been equipped with GSHT technology. In the first six months of the year, the Nam Dinh Fishing Port Management Board was able to monitor 1,566 ships arriving at the port and 48 ships departing, totaling 6,982.5 tons of monitoring output; and collect 141 mining logbooks.

According to Chung, following years of preparation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has categorized Ninh Co Fishing Port as a Class I fishing port by the end of 2020. However, the fishing port's size does not yet meet the need for anchoring and entering and exiting large-capacity fishing boats, particularly those with steel hulls.

Violations continue to occur

Hoang Thi To Nga, agricultural department official in Nam Dinh, said that the system has been aggressively deploying the exploitation, operation, and management of fishing boats that have lost connection with the VMS and fishing vessels that have breached foreign seas.

Additionally, the department granted the power to its subordinate divisions to utilize the fishing vessel surveillance system.

According to data, from 2020 until now, ships with a length of 15-24m have lost signal from GSHT equipment for 10 days or more 553 times, while ships with a length of 24m or more have lost signal for fewer than 10 days 190 times. The Nam Dinh Fisheries Sub-Department has issued a notice to examine and verify that 201 fishing boats' signals were lost for more than ten days and that two fishing vessels breached the Vietnamese territorial waters' boundary.

Regarding the administration of administrative breaches in the area of fishing, the province as a whole handled 74 cases in 2020, resulting in a fine of more than VND 516 million. Which included 50 instances handled by Border Guards and punishment of VND 453 million; 24 cases handled by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and a fine of approximately VND 64 million.

As a coastal district with a high concentration of offshore fishing vessels and boats, Hai Hau has taken an active role in combating illicit, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

Vu Van Ky, Hai Hau district authority, stated that the unit will continue to collaborate closely with Ninh Co Fishing Port, Hai Thinh Port Border Guard Station, and Van Ly Border Guard Station in the coming months to strengthen patrolling, inspecting, controlling at sea, and inspecting at fishing ports to improve law enforcement activities. Resolutely prosecute ships fishing illegally in international seas.

To prevent and fight illegal fishing, provincial chief Tran Anh Dung directed the Provincial Border Guard force to rigorously monitor fishing vessel departures, firmly refusing to let fishing boats that do not fulfill regulatory criteria sail out to sea.

Handle instances of intentional infractions that are not equipped with GSHT equipment strictly; station ships 24 hours a day at the Ha Lan, Ninh Co, and Day gates to prevent and identify IUU fishing violations.

The installation of GSHT equipment has not progressed according to the schedule

As of July 22, 2021, 457/530 fishing boats in Nam Dinh province have installed VMS equipment (reaching 86.22 percent), while the other 73 vessels remained unequipped, mostly sitting on the beach for maintenance.

According to officials, this is because many shipowners are unwilling to invest in GSHT technology. Inspection, control, and enforcement of infractions have not been conducted on a consistent and routine basis, resulting in widespread disrespect for the law.