Combating IUU fishing to remove EC's yellow card warning

Combating IUU fishing to remove the European Commission's yellow card warning in the next inspection is one of the industry's key tasks in 2024.

The situation of fishing boats and fishermen being arrested by foreign countries has decreased sharply but has not ended.

The Department of Fisheries Surveillance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has just held a conference to review the work of enforcing fisheries laws, combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) in 2023, tasks and solutions for 2023 and sign coordination regulations between forces.

In 2023, the fisheries surveillance force coordinated with the Coast Guard, local Border Guard, Navy, and local fisheries surveillance to conduct joint patrols, thematic patrols, support fishermen in legal seafood exploitation, combat IUU fishing, and prevent Vietnamese fishing vessels from violating foreign waters in the Southwest and Gulf of Tonkin.

Mr. Duong Van Cuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Fisheries Surveillance said that the fisheries surveillance force, navy and coast guard regularly maintain 40-42 ships combined with the use of DHC-6 aircraft to patrol, inspect and control continuously in the border and overlapping sea areas between Vietnam and Thailand and Malaysia to combat IUU fishing, ensuring security and safety for fishermen to legally exploit seafood.

The fisheries surveillance force conducted 28 patrols, inspections, and controls at sea by fisheries surveillance ships, 12 trips by fisheries surveillance boats with 530 officers and crew members. Inspected 1,061 fishing vessels, discovered 161 fishing vessels in violation, including 118 domestic fishing vessels and 43 foreign fishing vessels; sanctioned according to authority or transferred to authorities at all levels to sanction administrative violations of more than 12 billion VND.

Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shared that in recent times, Nghe An province has established a local fisheries control force, however, this team is still young. Therefore, Mr. Hoc suggested that the Fisheries Control Department organize joint patrols to strengthen the connection between central and local fisheries control, advise on amending and increasing the sea allowance for this force, and at the same time advise the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to have unified instructions on organizing the activities of the fisheries control force.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Binh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Head of the Ministry of National Defense's Steering Committee on IUU fishing, said that in the fourth inspection by the European Commission (EC) on combating IUU fishing, Vietnam has not yet met the EC's requirements to remove the "yellow card", in which the most important indicator is reducing the number of ships violating foreign waters, which we have not yet met.

"To combat IUU, coastal localities need to do a good job of communicating with the people. The responsibility of localities is therefore also very important. I hope that localities will understand and share with the authorities and together effectively resolve the issue," Mr. Binh shared.

Mr. Hoang Trung - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the fight against IUU fishing in 2023 has been directed and implemented strongly and synchronously from the central to local levels by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of National Defense and the authorities of 28 coastal provinces and cities, and has achieved many important results.

However, Mr. Trung said that there are still some shortcomings and limitations such as the fight against IUU fishing in general is still limited, which needs to be urgently overcome in the next 6 months, before the 5th inspection team of the EC comes to Vietnam; the situation of fishing vessels and fishermen being arrested and handled by foreign countries has decreased sharply but has not ended with many sophisticated and complicated forms...

Mr. Hoang Trung affirmed that the fight against IUU fishing to remove the yellow card warning from the European Commission in the next inspection (expected in April 2024) is one of the key tasks of the industry in 2024. Departments, localities, especially the Fisheries Control Department, need to develop an implementation plan and coordinate methodically and resolutely.

Accordingly, the Deputy Minister directed that in 2024, the Fisheries Surveillance Department needs to focus on advising and directing the implementation of solutions to combat IUU fishing according to Official Dispatch 1058/CD-TTg, Directive 102/CT-BQP of the Minister of National Defense, and Conclusion Notice No. 539/TB-VPCP dated December 25, 2023 on the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang at the 8th meeting of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing.

Timely submit to the Prime Minister for approval the Master Plan on developing the fisheries control force until 2030, with a vision to 2045; submit to the Government for promulgation of a Decree amending/supplementing Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP, Decree amending Decree No. 42/2019/ND-CP.

Source link: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/chong-khai-thac-iuu-de-go-canh-bao-the-vang-cua-ec-147907.html