Removing obstacles to strictly manage "3 no" ships

Although being one of the pioneering provinces and cities to conduct inspections, statistics, and temporary registration of “3 no” fishing vessels (no registration, inspection, and no fishing license), the number of these fishing vessels continues to increase due to the lack of strict management by localities. In addition, the whole province still has nearly 200 “3 no” vessels that have not been granted temporary registration certificates due to many difficulties.

Stuck in procedures

According to the Department of Fisheries, through the review of newly built, converted, purchased, and donated fishing vessels that are operating but not registered in the province before May 6, 2024, there are 2,531 vessels. Of which, fishing vessels with a length of 6 m to less than 12 m are 2,303; fishing vessels with a length of 12 m to less than 15 m are 137; fishing vessels with a length of 15 m or more are 91. By locality, Phan Thiet city has 436 vessels; La Gi town has 812 vessels; Tuy Phong district has 666 vessels, Phu Quy has 295 vessels, Ham Thuan Nam has 103 vessels, Ham Tan has 213 vessels, Bac Binh has 5 vessels, and Ham Thuan Bac has 1 vessel. Up to now, the Fisheries Sub-Department has inspected the current status and issued temporary fishing vessel registration certificates to 2,348 "3 no" fishing vessels/2,531 vessels. Of which, temporary fishing vessel registration certificates have been issued to 2,152 fishing vessels with lengths from 6 m to under 12 m; 120 fishing vessels with lengths from 12 m to under 15 m; 76 fishing vessels with lengths from 15 m or more. Thus, currently, the number of fishing vessels in the province that have not been inspected and issued temporary registration certificates is still 183.

The whole province has more than 2,000 "3 no" fishing boats.

As one of the localities with the most "3 no" boats in the province, Tuy Phong district has recently strengthened inspection, statistics and extensive propaganda for fishermen to implement. However, currently, Tuy Phong still has 56 boats that have not been granted temporary certificates and the number of "3 no" boats has increased again after a short time. According to the local leaders, one of the main reasons is that some fishermen have arbitrarily converted their boats and machinery to switch to illegal fishing activities such as trawling, so the inspection centers cannot complete the procedures. In addition, the group of fishing boats with a length of 6m to under 12m mostly do not have value-added invoices when building or converting boats, so they cannot be issued registration fees - one of the mandatory procedures for granting seafood exploitation licenses according to Circular 06 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Most fishing vessels bought and sold do not have original records or complete valid documents, so temporary certificates cannot be issued (illustrative photo)

Fishermen registering fishing vessels and being granted fishing licenses for fishing vessels with a length of 6 m to less than 12 m are mandatory provisions of the 2017 Fisheries Law, which took effect in 2019. These are also important contents for Binh Thuan to contribute to the whole country in implementing the recommendations of the European Commission on combating IUU fishing. Therefore, the work of reviewing "3 no" vessels is regularly directed by the Provincial People's Committee, but up to now, there are still many difficulties.

Complete registration in September

At a recent meeting between departments, branches and sectors with Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai to resolve the difficulties surrounding this issue, Mr. Huynh Quang Huy - Head of the Department of Fisheries said that the reason for not being officially registered for the remaining 183 "3 no" fishing vessels of the province is because the newly built fishing vessels, bought and sold with a length of 12 m or more, have main engines that are manual engines, these fishing vessels are not granted a Technical Safety Certificate by the inspection agency; the newly built fishing vessels are not licensed; the fishing vessels bought and sold do not have original records, do not have full valid documents. Therefore, these fishing vessels do not have full documents to declare before registration according to regulations and do not fully meet the components of the fishing vessel registration dossier in Circular 06/2024/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The whole province has nearly 200 "3 no" fishing boats, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development requires to complete the review and registration of boats by September 2024.

At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai requested the provincial departments and branches to focus on performing well the assigned tasks of combating IUU fishing according to the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang at the meeting on June 17, 2024. The common goal of Binh Thuan province is to work with the whole country to implement solutions to remove the EC's "yellow card" warning for the Vietnamese fisheries industry. Regarding the 183 "3 no" fishing vessels of the province that are still stuck, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Department of Fisheries to coordinate with relevant departments, branches and localities, especially the Provincial Tax Department, to support and create conditions for localities to complete the procedures and soon issue temporary fishing vessel registration certificates for these fishing vessels. In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is required to complete the review and issue registration of "3 no" vessels in September 2024; assign responsibility to the Chairman of the District People's Committee if "3 no" vessels continue to arise.

Without synchronous and drastic implementation of solutions from localities, it will be very difficult to strictly manage this fleet, leading to a very high risk of IUU fishing violations and the path to removing the IUU "yellow card" will be more difficult.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/go-vuong-mac-de-quan-ly-chat-tau-3-khong-119810.html