BTO-2017 was a memorable year for Vietnam, when the European Commission (EC) issued a warning against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Nearly 6 years have passed with many efforts and determination of ministries and branches from central to local levels to overcome the EC's recommendations, the fisheries sector of Binh Thuan in particular and the whole country in general has had positive changes.
In the 4th inspection in October 2023, will the Vietnamese seafood industry be able to successfully "test", or will it take another 2-3 years to have the opportunity to remove the IUU "yellow card"?
Lesson 1: “Theft” at sea, unintentional or intentional?
Despite warnings from authorities, despite boats being confiscated, sunk, and even imprisoned for illegally fishing in foreign waters, some fishermen still “risk” going to other countries to “steal” fish. So what is the underlying cause?
The temptation…
Having just been released from a Malaysian prison after 1 year of imprisonment, Mr. TAD (Phuoc Hoi ward - La Gi town) is still terrified when recalling that sad time. It was the first days of January 2022 (December), the Tet atmosphere began to bustle when the cold winds of the end of the year appeared, the ship BTh 95204 TS of which he was the captain set sail with 7 other workers leaving Ganh Hao, Bac Lieu. For offshore fishing vessels, the sea trip can last more than 20 days, so Mr. D. hoped that the last sea trip of the year would be a bumper crop, and his crew members' families would have an additional "reward" to buy enough for Tet. Then, in just a moment of thoughtlessness, Mr. D. could not resist the temptation of a country with a lot of fish, so he turned the ship to the Malaysian border...
At exactly 12 noon on January 7, 2022, Malaysian authorities at sea discovered and arrested him and other sea workers. Mr. TTM's (ship owner) billion-dollar ship was immediately mercilessly destroyed by the authorities of the neighboring country. The dream of a warm and prosperous Tet holiday with his family suddenly slipped away from Mr. D.'s reach and caused him to fall into days of haunting and regretful imprisonment. In Mr. D.'s account after 1 year of imprisonment in a foreign land, he was intermittent, torn, regretful and he only wished that...
“Only when I return to my family and relatives can I have a truly good night’s sleep. Although my captain’s license and fishing license have been revoked, and my income is only 3-5 million VND/month, a quarter of what it was before, I am still very lucky to be alive. However, that mistake haunts and torments me every day. Not to mention, when I return to sea, I often encounter discriminatory looks from many people because of my illegal fishing,” Mr. D. sadly recounted. In particular, at the beginning of September, when he heard that Mr. M., the ship owner, was fined 900 million VND under Decree 42 regulating administrative penalties in the fisheries sector, Mr. D. felt even more guilty…
Or be seduced?
Also in the same unfortunate situation as Mr. D., Mr. Nguyen Van Hong (Giang Hai 2 Ward - Phan Ri Cua Town - Tuy Phong District) was also "trapped" into prison in a foreign land, when he believed the sweet promise of a broker in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to share the profits after the fishing trip. The story began in mid-2020, when the Covid-19 epidemic was complicated, most of the local boats were stuck on the shore. Because he was the main breadwinner in the family, had to support his elderly parents and wife and children, Mr. Hong - who had been in the fishing industry for more than 20 years had to go to Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to apply to be a crewmate.
According to him, one night in August 2020, when the ship had already set sail, the captain received a call from the ship owner, exchanging fishing coordinates. He and 12 other fishermen on that trip vaguely understood the ship owner's intention to cross the Indonesian border to exploit seafood. "As expected, early the next morning, while casting our nets, we were arrested by the Indonesian navy, had all our belongings taken, and began a series of days with no way out..." The captain was "redeemed" by the ship owner after a short time and promised to bail out the remaining crew members. But Mr. Hong and the other fishermen waited in vain and were transferred to 2 different detention camps with extremely poor living conditions. Those who had money to pay the fine were able to return to their families soon, but Mr. Hong spent nearly 3 long years in prison, and the reason was not subjectively his.
At that time, the elderly parents in the countryside had intended to set up an altar because they thought that only when their son was in an accident far away at sea, he would not be able to contact his family. By the end of 2021, Mr. Hong tried to contact home, asking his parents to borrow about 20 million VND to "redeem" him. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chung (his mother) could only cry after hearing this. Even though she had repeatedly brought the red book to the bank to beg for a loan, but Mrs. Chung and her husband were unable to work, were near-poor households, and had no stable income, so the bank refused. Every day, Mrs. Chung could only pray in her heart that Mr. Hong would return safely.
In mid-May 2023, Mr. Hong suddenly appeared in front of the house like a miracle, making the lonely, sad house of Mrs. Chung and her husband now bright, bustling with laughter, visits, and joy from the neighbors. Seeing Mr. Hong limping when he returned, due to the consequences of the accident when he was locked up for a long time in a foreign country, sometimes hungry, sometimes full, Mrs. Chung felt sorry, knowing that her son had had an extremely difficult and miserable time.
It has been 4 months since he returned to his family, but the after-effects of the stroke have left him in constant pain, unable to return to work, further pushing his family into a difficult situation. Not only that, the lack of meals and days of labor in prison keep appearing in his fitful sleep, haunting him endlessly. Mr. Nguyen Van Hong lamented: “I am lucky that through the connection of the online community, the help of the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia, as well as many donors, I and 4 fishermen from other provinces and cities were able to return home. I have little education, but I am very aware that fishing in foreign waters is illegal. If I had known that the ship owner and captain colluded to go to a foreign country to fish, I would never have gone on that fateful trip. I only hope that the government and relevant agencies will take drastic action against the ship owner and broker, so that fishermen like us will not be unjustly imprisoned, even losing our health, family, reputation, and youth.”
Involved in IUU, most fishermen go bankrupt, although the masterminds behind it, the ship owners who lure and hire workers, are difficult to handle because they do not go to sea. Therefore, the authorities need to have sanctions solutions aimed at the masterminds and ultimate beneficiaries. At the same time, it is necessary to widely propagate so that fishermen can understand the lesson that "being involved in IUU means losing everything".
According to the IUU Fishing Index 2021 study, Vietnam has an illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing index of 2.48, higher than the world average of 2.24 and is ranked 6th in the world in terms of IUU fishing. This problem has seriously affected many economic activities in Vietnam and the lives of fishermen.
Lesson 2: "Decoding" illegal fishing
Lesson 3: What did Binh Thuan gain after a 6-year journey to remove the "yellow card"?
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