Quang Ninh combats IUU fishing
Identifying that combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is an urgent task, the northern province of Quang Ninh has drastically implemented solutions under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and promptly handled violations of illegal seafood exploitation.
Quang Ninh currently has more than 6,000 fishing vessels of all types and is decentralised in management. To ensure the criteria in fishing in general and the seas in particular, as recommended by the EC, fishing vessels with a length of 6 metres or more, managed by district and provincial levels, are updated with data on the website - Vnfishbase and are registered and inspected according to regulations. Particularly for fishing vessels with a length of 12 metres or more, they have been licensed for fishing, signed a food safety commitment and granted a food safety certificate.
Strengthening inspection and supervision
According to the report of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, fishing boats in Quang Ninh are all inspected and controlled during the arrival and departure of the port following regulations. Every 10 days, functional sectors make a list and assess high-risk fishing vessels violating IUU fishing, losing connection to the cruise monitoring device (VMS) for 10 days or more, and send it to the relevant authorities for handling; and organise the effective operation of the VMS system to notify and warn about activities that cross boundaries at sea. Currently, Quang Ninh Fisheries Sub-Department has established a zalo group of 233 fishing vessel owners on the high seas, to regularly inform and guide fishing vessels to dock and leave the port, warn and maintain VMS connection and remind vessels to pass boundaries during operations at sea.
With efforts to strengthen inspection and supervision, since 2017, Quang Ninh has not had any fishing vessels violating foreign waters, that have been arrested and handled. However, recently after working in Quang Ninh, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also recommended that a series of fishing boats in Quang Ninh Province sometimes lose connection to VMS, affecting more or less the process of removing the EC's "yellow card" in fisheries exploitation for Vietnam.
Facing this situation, Quang Ninh province has directed relevant departments, branches and localities to strengthen inspection of registration and issuance of fishing licenses for all fishing vessels; inspect, control and trace the origin of exploited aquatic products; patrol, inspect, control and enforce fisheries laws and regulations on IUU fishing at sea and fishing ports and landing sites; at the same time, implement the regulations on coordination signed between six provinces and cities in preventing and handling IUU fishing violations. The province has also established and organised effective operations of local fisheries surveillance forces; regional fisheries surveillance forces and functional forces in the province, to strictly handle violations of IUU fishing at sea.
At the Inter-Sectoral Station to control fishing vessels entering and leaving Cai Rong Port, the staff here are on duty 24 hours a day to inspect and control fishing vessels, issue samples, recover fishing logs, and monitor the amount of seafood unloaded through the port. According to the Head of the Cai Rong Port and Wharf Department Dang Ngoc Thiet, before fishermen take their fishing boats out to sea, the unit checks documents, people and vehicles. The owner of the fishing vessel signed a commitment to the correct number of seafarers, cruise control, fishing license, and crew name registration. Through the cruise monitoring system, authorities assign officers to closely monitor fishing vessels operating at sea.
Lieutenant Colonel Vu The Rang, a Politician of Van Gia Port Border Guard Station, said recently, the Station has actively organised activities to help fishermen raise awareness of compliance with the law on fishing and combating IUU fishing, and at the same time coordinate with police and fisheries control to organise peak patrols, inspections, and control of compliance with regulations on IUU fishing, exploitation and protection of aquatic resources in marine areas of the province and adjacent sea areas.
With the viewpoint of "no prohibited areas, no exceptions", Quang Ninh province is determined to strictly handle organisations and individuals that broker and connect fishing vessels and fishermen to illegally exploit seafood in foreign coastal waters; handling fishing vessels that do not record or submit fishing logs and reports, and do not comply with inspection and control when ships arrive and leave ports according to regulations. If the owner of a fishing vessel intentionally violates, criminal sanctions will be imposed and all operating licenses will be revoked according to regulations.
Exploiting and protecting sustainable aquatic resources
Quang Ninh province has determined that fishing is a key economic sector in the marine economic development strategy. The province has implemented many solutions to concretise the national programme to develop effective and sustainable aquaculture and exploitation; strengthen management work associated with the responsibilities of the leader, and handle violations in the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources.
The province has also completed and adjusted the planning for the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors, according to the Quang Ninh Provincial Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050; approved the establishment of 10 points to control fishing vessels and aquatic production in key fishing localities; registered and temporarily licensed fishing vessels for vessels that do not yet meet the conditions for official registration to be put into management; deployed information technology applications in fishing vessel management and aquatic exploitation; and promoted information dissemination activities on various channels.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien emphasised that Quang Ninh's work to remove IUU yellow cards has not achieved results as expected, there are still limitations in registration, fishing vessel registration, and logbooks; fishery exploitation, connection to monitoring journeys, output control capacity, and infrastructure. The province needs to urgently overcome limitations to ensure the implementation of regulations against IUU fishing.
According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province Vu Van Dien, localities in the province are strengthening inspection and supervision, requiring vehicle owners to have fishing logs of each fishing vessel; controlling and signing the number of registered and declared ships; establishing groups to manage the number of fishermen's boats residing in communes, wards and towns.
Authorities of coastal communes are responsible for full and regular declaration of fishing vessels; and disseminating information to ship owners to comply with regulations on fisheries exploitation. By the end of August 2023, the registration, inspection, and issuance of fishing licenses for all fishing vessels must be completed according to regulations, and at the same time strictly handle vessels that violate illegal and unreported seafood exploitation.
