Keep aquatic resources clean
As a locality with a long coastline, Binh Dinh province currently has about 5,950 fishing vessels, of which about 3,500 vessels operate offshore. Aquaculture is one of the province's key sectors with an annual output of over 200,000 tons, contributing to the development of the agricultural economy, increasing export value and creating jobs for coastal fishermen. On average, each fishing vessel has 6-8 crew members. Each sea trip can bring an average income of 8-10 million VND/person.
However, environmental issues, especially plastic pollution, are gradually becoming a challenge for fisheries activities. According to Mr. Tran Van Vinh, Deputy Head of the Department of Fisheries of Binh Dinh province, a survey shows that on average, 300 fishing vessels dock at Quy Nhon Fishing Port every month. These vessels have discharged more than 4 tons of plastic waste, nearly 1 ton of aluminum cans and 1.75 tons of plastic packaging containing and preserving aquatic products into the ocean. This reality shows that we must not only prevent plastic waste from escaping from the mainland into the ocean, but also prevent plastic waste from fishing boats.
With the view that waste is a resource, Binh Dinh Fisheries Department in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program is currently implementing a model of collecting plastic waste on fishing vessels connected to the material recovery facility at Quy Nhon Fishing Port. Initially, the model will be applied to 100 fishing vessels regularly entering and leaving Quy Nhon fishing port and expanded to about 100 fishing vessels at De Gi fishing port and Tam Quan fishing port. The plastic reduction process is based on 3 main links: managing fishing vessel waste on fishing vessels; managing fishing vessel waste at fishing ports, and managing fishing vessel waste at the Recycling Facility.
In particular, Mr. Vinh himself designed a type of plastic and aluminum can trash basket specifically for boats at sea. This trash basket is very compact, space-saving and convenient for fishermen to collect trash. After each trip, they will bring it to sell to a scrap yard. The average price is 8,000 VND/kg of scrap.
At fishing ports, the amount of plastic waste is about 15 - 20 kg/day. If collected, classified, reused, recycled along with the mechanism of collecting plastic waste on fishing boats when they dock, it will contribute to increasing income and improving the lives of port cleaning workers and freelance workers collecting at the port. At the same time, it will reduce environmental pollution and build the image of a green fishing port in Quy Nhon city.
“Reducing plastic waste also helps Binh Dinh province protect the marine environment, protect aquatic resources, and avoid aquatic species being contaminated by plastic waste. Therefore, aquatic products will be less contaminated with plastic and microplastics,” Mr. Vinh emphasized.
If the implementation is effective, the model is expected to help reduce about 60 tons of plastic waste discharged into the ocean from daily life and production on fishing boats, while raising awareness and responsibility of the fishing community. The work of collecting household waste and on fishing boats well not only contributes to reducing ocean plastic waste but also increases income and creates jobs for the community related to the field of collecting and recycling scrap locally. In the short term, the model will create regular jobs for 5 informal workers at the fishing port, creating an average income of about 3.6 million VND/worker/month. Looking further, it has the potential to be replicated for more than 3,000 offshore fishing boats in the province and even other coastal localities.
Comply with marine environmental protection regulations
In Quang Binh province, the implementation of measures to reduce plastic pollution is also receiving attention from management levels. Mr. Le Ngoc Linh, Head of the Department of Fisheries of Quang Binh province, said: Plastic waste generated in seafood production activities mainly comes from fishing activities; damaged, lost, floating fishing gear at sea; and coastal aquaculture production.
According to information from offshore fishing vessel owners, each year the average amount of waste per vessel is about 70 - 80 kg/vessel, so the estimated amount of waste from offshore fishing vessels in Quang Binh is about 80 - 100 tons/year. Implementing the Central's directives, the Provincial People's Committee has issued a Plan for managing ocean plastic waste in Quang Binh province until 2030; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a Plan to reduce, collect, classify, and reuse plastic waste in the Agriculture and Rural Development sector of Quang Binh province.
To put the policies into practice, local authorities have encouraged fishermen to sign a commitment and put up a board of regulations on reducing plastic waste. Boat owners have signed a commitment to collect trash from the sea and bring it to shore on each trip. Each boat will be provided with two mesh trash bags so that fishermen can put trash on the boat and then bring it back to shore.
In Quang Ninh province, the conversion of styrofoam buoys in aquaculture to floating materials according to the local technical regulations (QCĐP 08:2020/QN) has initially brought about positive results. Quang Ninh is the first province to issue a technical regulation on this issue. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue documents directing departments, branches and localities to focus on managing, guiding and urging the implementation of production, supply and conversion of floating materials according to standards. At the same time, handle and relocate cases of illegal aquaculture violations, stabilize concentrated marine farming areas according to planning, protect the environment and marine resources.
As of April 30, 2023, there were 16 units producing and supplying plastic buoys in the province that were declared to be in compliance with regulations. 90.4% of the farming area has completed the conversion. This can be considered a positive direction of the province, in line with the policy of economic development associated with environmental protection and natural ecosystems.
According to the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, plastic waste generated from aquaculture and fishing activities must be collected, stored and transferred to facilities with recycling and treatment functions. Plastic waste generated from economic activities at sea must be collected for reuse, recycling or treatment and must not be discharged into the sea. The Law on Marine and Island Environmental Resources also provides detailed regulations on the control of marine environmental pollution from activities at sea, from land and across borders. Local plastic waste management has contributed to the effective enforcement of legal regulations on marine environmental protection, raising awareness among local communities in reducing plastic waste from economic development activities.
The National Action Plan on Marine Plastic Waste Management by 2030 aims to collect 100% of lost or abandoned fishing gear and end the dumping of fishing gear directly into the sea. 100% of marine protected areas are free of plastic waste. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Take the lead in coordinating with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, relevant ministries, branches and agencies to strictly control plastic waste in marine protected areas and coastal fishing communities.
According to Dr. Nguyen Giang Thu, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Implementing Directive No. 33/CT-TTg dated August 20, 2020 of the Prime Minister on strengthening the management, reuse, recycling, treatment and reduction of plastic waste, in the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will develop and implement a plan to reduce, collect and recycle plastic waste in the fisheries sector. In particular, focusing on implementing solutions to limit the use of foam buoys, recovering fishing gear such as nets, buoys that are lost, forgotten or discarded at sea; preparing raw materials for products to replace hard-to-decompose plastic bags and disposable plastic items from agricultural products...
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