Online conference on combating illegal fishing

On December 13, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, Head of the National Steering Committee on Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) chaired an online conference with 28 coastal localities to promote solutions to combat IUU fishing, responding to the recommendations of the European Commission (EC) Inspection Delegation after the fourth inspection in October 2023, in an effort to remove the yellow card on Vietnam's exploited seafood products.

Chairing the conference at Ninh Binh province was comrade Tran Song Tung, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of a number of relevant departments, branches and localities.

Six years after the European Commission (EC) issued a yellow card warning to Vietnamese seafood products exported to the European market for not fully complying with anti-IUU fishing regulations, the EC Inspection Delegation has conducted four field inspections in Vietnam.

Although recognizing Vietnam's efforts in combating IUU, the EC also pointed out many shortcomings and limitations, and the yellow card has not been removed. Specifically: The basic legal framework is comprehensive enough to manage seafood exploitation activities and combat IUU fishing, but it is necessary to amend and supplement regulations on penalties for acts of exceeding permitted boundaries at sea detected through the fishing vessel monitoring system, and regulations on control of imported raw materials by container ships.

Fleet management has made progress, gradually reducing the number of ships; however, it is necessary to control the reduced number of ships, ensuring that they do not participate in maritime exploitation. The fishing vessel data on the national fisheries database (VNFishbase) has improved significantly compared to the third inspection; however, it is still incomplete compared to the total number of vessels reported. The installation of VMS equipment on fishing vessels has achieved very good results (nearly 100%), however, there are cases of disconnection when operating at sea with a large number, leading to ineffective control of fishing vessel activities.

Law enforcement and penalties for cases of VMS disconnection and maritime boundary violations in localities are still very weak. In particular, the EC expressed concerns about the control of seafood raw materials imported by container ships.

The EC recommends that Viet Nam conduct a stock assessment based on scientific surveys and continue to introduce additional measures to ensure a better balance between fleet size and resource stocks, such as further reductions in the fleet, setting quotas for certain species or groups of species or limiting the number of days certain vessels are allowed to operate at sea or further reducing the number of permits that can be issued for certain fisheries.

Regarding the enforcement of fisheries laws, it is necessary to ensure deterrent, systematic and unified implementation of sanctions throughout Vietnam, all violations must be handled, without exception.

As for Ninh Binh, by November 30, 2023, the province had 67 fishing vessels exploiting seafood. 100% of the vessels had been granted registration certificates and completed the marking of fishing vessels according to regulations; of which 8 vessels with a length of over 15m operating offshore had been installed with voyage monitoring equipment. Currently, the province has no fishing vessels violating regulations on areas and zones prohibited from exploiting seafood; no fishing vessels violating foreign waters, and no fishing vessels at high risk of violating regulations on illegal exploitation.

However, the difficulty of Ninh Binh is that fishing boats are mainly small, operating in offshore and coastal areas, anchored in waterways (due to the lack of fishing ports), so managing these boats is still difficult. The situation of fishing vessel monitoring equipment losing connection for unknown reasons still occurs.

At the conference, leaders of localities, ministries and branches made statements to review, point out the shortcomings, causes and propose solutions, mechanisms and policies to manage fishing fleets and manage the traceability of exploited seafood. Accordingly, many delegates suggested that in the coming time, it is necessary to calculate to reduce debt, extend debt to reduce economic pressure for ship owners; have policies to support vocational training and job conversion for fishermen; through diplomatic and cooperative activities, bring Vietnam's fleet to connect with countries in the region to exploit seafood...

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized that the EC Inspection Delegation is expected to conduct its fifth inspection in April 2024, which is an opportunity for Vietnam to remove the "Yellow Card".

The Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries, sectors, and localities, according to their assigned functions and tasks, to urgently overcome shortcomings and limitations in combating IUU fishing.

The Ministry of National Defense shall preside over and coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to continue implementing strong measures to prevent fishing vessels from illegally exploiting in foreign waters.

Provinces with fishing vessels detained and handled by foreign countries since the beginning of 2023 include: Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Khanh Hoa, Ca Mau, Kien Giang and provinces with fishing vessels violating and losing VMS connection, urgently review records, issue decisions to completely punish violations that are still within the time limit and statute of limitations, to be completed before December 30, 2023.

Strengthen propaganda, mobilization, and raise awareness of captains, ship owners, and fishermen; control and manage fleets in the area, resolutely and strictly handle cases of intentional violations of IUU fishing, and ensure consistent law enforcement among localities.

Nguyen Luu - Anh Tuan

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