It is necessary to prevent and handle fishing activities using electric pulses and explosives.

Recently, some fishermen, for short-term benefits, have disregarded the law and used illegal means such as explosives and electric shocks to catch aquatic and marine products, seriously threatening the marine ecosystem and directly affecting the lives of fishermen in coastal communes in the province. Although people are very upset and have reported to the authorities many times, this situation has not been resolved yet.

A fishing boat with a license plate of Quang Ngai province, fishing by electric pulse, anchored near the coast of Vinh Thai commune, Vinh Linh district - Photo: TRAN TUYEN

Destructive fishing

We met fisherman Le Van Thiem (49 years old) in Dong Luat village, Vinh Thai commune, Vinh Linh district on a day in mid-August. Thiem's ​​family has a small bamboo boat with a capacity of 10 CV, fishing near the shore. "My boat has 2 workers. From the beginning of the 3rd to the 7th lunar month, we catch squid with a trap. From the 7th to the 3rd lunar month of the following year, we cast a trawl net to catch pomfret, herring and pound shrimp... Many years ago, our fishing was quite favorable. However, in the past 10 years, it has not been like that anymore," Thiem began the story.

Mr. Thiem said that from the third lunar month every year, many fishing boats registered in Quang Ngai province come to the coastal waters of Vinh Thai commune to catch seafood using electric shock. These boats usually anchor a few nautical miles from shore. When night falls, these fishing boats operate.

“These boats use electric pulses to catch fish, so all kinds of seafood, big and small, die. In the morning, they bring the fish to sell to local traders. They don’t have any fishing gear on their boats, but there are a lot of shrimp and fish,” Thiem said.

Mr. Thiem also said that there were a few fishing boats of Kim Thach commune using explosives to catch seafood in Vinh Thai sea. These boats were fishing about 1 nautical mile from shore. After the explosions, thousands of big and small fish died miserably, floating with their bellies white on the vast ocean surface.

“Near the coast of Vinh Thai, there is a coral reef, which is the habitat and breeding ground for many types of aquatic products. In the past, Vinh Thai fishermen caught many types of lobsters, squid, groupers, and large-sized anchovies with high economic value. But in recent years, there are no more, even small shrimp and fish are gradually decreasing,” Mr. Thiem said indignantly.

Dong Luat village chief Ho Sy Duong said that he and many fishermen in the village saw foreign boats illegally fishing with electric shocks but were "powerless".

“I saw Quang Ngai boats using electric shock to catch fish around 1-2am. The lights around their boats were bright, and a few men dived into the sea, carrying electric guns. At that time, I used my phone to call the authorities and security team but couldn’t get through, so I could only stand by and watch helplessly. If the police and border guards cooperate with the fishermen, we are ready to support the boats to prevent and handle this destructive fishing behavior,” said Mr. Duong.

A few kilometers away is the home of fisherman Nguyen Huu Su (40 years old) in Tan Mach village. Mr. Su's family has a 12 CV bamboo boat, fishing for squid, reef fish, and pounding shrimp. According to Mr. Su, in recent years, in the waters of Vinh Thai commune, there have been 2-3 fishing boats with Quang Ngai province license plates regularly fishing with electric pulses at night.

“I specialize in fishing on coral reefs. Previously, Vinh Thai waters had many large groupers, anchovies, and squid. However, in the past 3-4 years, they have not been available. Therefore, many fishermen in the village have gradually given up fishing because of the loss of fuel money,” said Mr. Su.

Tan Mach village chief Ngo Tat Huu said that for about 10 years now, many boats with Quang Ngai province license plates have regularly come to fish in the waters near Vinh Thai coast using electric shock.

“In recent years, the fishing output of the whole village has decreased significantly compared to before. The types of fish living in coral reefs such as grouper, octopus, squid, and cuttlefish have also decreased significantly. If not handled promptly, the lives of Vinh Thai fishermen and our descendants will be affected. We have reported and made recommendations to authorities at all levels many times, but this situation still occurs regularly,” said Mr. Huu.

Fishermen lost their fishing gear.

Fishermen in Vinh Thai commune also expressed their frustration at the fact that fishing boats with Khanh Hoa province license plates operating in the nearshore waters have damaged and lost their fishing gear. Fisherman Le Van Thiem said that his family's main source of income is fishing with traps to catch squid. However, in recent years, many fishing boats from Khanh Hoa province operating with purse seine have broken his nets and lost his traps. "I have lost 12 traps, 1 line and 2 anchors, causing a loss of over 5 million VND. It would take a lot of time and effort to rebuild them now," Thiem said.

According to Dong Luat Village Chief Ho Sy Duong, every time a fishing boat from Khanh Hoa province casts a seine net and then pulls away, the traps of Vinh Thai fishermen are swept away. There are 10 boat owners in the entire village who have lost their squid traps to these boats. The most owners lost 20 traps, the least owners lost 10. This situation has been going on for about 5 years now.

The same thing happened in Tan Mach village. Tan Mach village chief Nguyen Tat Huu shared: “From March to June this year, I lost 100 traps, not including ropes and anchors, causing a loss of more than 40 million VND. My uncle's son, Nguyen Tat Viet, lost 200 traps, causing a loss of more than 50 million VND. The purse seine fishing boats in Khanh Hoa province should have been operating in offshore fishing grounds because of their long length and strong capacity. They are fishing in the nearshore waters illegally.”

Timely action is needed

Chairman of Vinh Thai Commune People's Committee Nguyen Huu Truong said that the whole commune currently has about 200 boats with a total capacity of over 3,000 CV. Fishermen in the commune mainly practice near-shore fishing, such as: reef fishing, trawling, pounding shrimp, diving for lobsters and snails...

In recent years, many out-of-province vessels and some local vessels have been fishing destructively using electric shock and explosives, which has degraded the marine ecosystem and directly affected the production of fishermen in the commune. According to Mr. Truong, preventing and handling the above illegal fishing activities still faces many difficulties due to limited local capacity and lack of close and synchronous coordination between agencies and units.

Talking to us, Phan Huu Thang, Head of the Quang Tri Province Fisheries Department, said that according to regulations, fishing vessels using purse seine nets mainly operate in open and offshore waters, depending on the length of the vessel. As for fishing with electric pulses, this is an illegal act.

However, detection and handling are difficult because these fishing boats mainly operate at night, and when they are detected by inspection forces, they will quickly flee. As for the act of using explosives to catch aquatic products, there must be specific evidence and physical evidence for the authorities to have a basis for handling. In reality, when hearing the explosion, the patrol boat of the authorities arrived at the scene, the fishing boat had already gone elsewhere and dispersed the evidence.

It is known that in recent times, although the authorities have implemented a number of measures to prevent and handle fishing by electric shock, explosives, and trawling, the results have not been high. Fishermen in Vinh Thai commune hope that authorities at all levels and relevant agencies and forces will actively coordinate, regularly patrol and inspect at sea to prevent and handle illegal fishing. From there, it will help fishermen feel secure in their lives and production.

Tran Tuyen

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/can-ngan-chan-xu-ly-hanh-vi-danh-bat-thuy-san-bang-xung-dien-thuoc-no-188083.htm