Is it easy to do honest business at sea?

1. Resolutely implementing the investigation, verification and handling of IUU fishing activities, up to now, this province has prosecuted 19 criminal cases and prosecuted and tried 2 cases, creating a strong change, deterrence andeducating the awareness of law compliance in the fishing community. Notably, in early 2024, the People's Court of Kien Giang province sentenced 4 defendants for organizing illegal exit for others, violating regulations on combating illegal IUU fishing from 1 to 8 years in prison. This is the first case to be tried in the country after more than 5 years of combating illegal fishing but no cases have been prosecuted.

From the beginning of 2025 until now, there are still cases of fishing vessels violating illegal fishing in foreign waters.

Although Kien Giang province has made efforts to implement both tough and flexible solutions to combat IUU fishing, there are still limitations. In particular, the results of investigation, verification, and handling of violations of VMS regulations, violations of illegal fishing in foreign waters, etc. are still low compared to the detected cases. In particular, from the beginning of 2025 to now, there have been cases of local fishing vessels violating illegal fishing in foreign waters; in which, on February 24, 2025, fishing vessel KG-95541-TS was arrested by Thailand and about 10 other fishing vessels escaped. The EC has received the information and this is one of the main reasons why the EC has not yet conducted an on-site inspection in Vietnam as scheduled at the end of March 2025.

Most fishermen in the province comply with the regulations quite seriously.

2. Recently, in Vung Tau, the provincial People's Court also held a mobile trial and sentenced two defendants of this province to 7 years in prison for illegal fishing. The trial demonstrated the strictness of the law and the uncompromising stance in the fight against IUU fishing. This is one of many cases nationwide in which fishermen removed and sent VMS equipment to other fishing vessels to fish in prohibited waters. The sentence for those fishermen is a warning to those who disregard the law. It is an alarm bell about the consequences of reckless behavior, because this not only seriously affects Vietnam's seafood export activities but also greatly affects the image, reputation, and diplomatic position of the country in the international arena.

Since 2017, when the European Commission (EC) applied the “yellow card” to Vietnamese seafood, the Government and coastal localities, including Binh Thuan, have made efforts to implement many solutions to overcome this problem. Regulations on combating IUU fishing have been tightened, “3 no” vessels have been eliminated, and the management of onshore and offshore vessels has gradually come into line. Control of fishing vessels has been strengthened. However, there are still individuals who deliberately violate the law, despite the joint efforts of the whole country.

Binh Thuan has not detected any cases of fishermen removing and sending VMS devices.

3. Perhaps from not knowing or understanding what IUU is, now most fishermen in the province strictly follow the regulations and comply with the law to contribute to removing the "yellow card". Knowing that this is a period when the fishing industry is facing many difficulties when resources are increasingly scarce, costs are increasing while seafood prices are unstable, going to sea is not as simple as our ancestors in the past, but we have to "go and report back", write a fishing log, fishing vessels must be registered, inspected, painted according to regulations and must turn on the journey monitoring device during the entire process of fishing far offshore.

As a locality with key fishing grounds, over the past 7 years, Binh Thuan has made great efforts to enforce regulations against IUU fishing. The province has taken many drastic measures such as strengthening management, installing equipment to monitor fishing vessel journeys, strictly controlling port entry and exit activities and strictly handling violations. Up to this point, Binh Thuan has not detected any cases of fishermen removing or sending VMS devices or disabling devices to illegally fish. However, the incidents in Kien Giang and Vung Tau show that there are always loopholes for "ghost ships" to operate at sea and the authorities must not be subjective in detecting these ships early and from a distance.

More than anyone else, fishermen are the ones who need to understand that complying with fishing laws is not only a legal obligation but also a way to protect their own future. Illegal fishing not only depletes fishery resources, but also damages the image of Vietnam's fishing industry, seriously threatening exports - one of the country's key economic sectors.

As long as each fisherman is aware of his or her responsibility – to exploit legally, fish in Vietnam’s waters and not participate or assist in illegal fishing activities, remove and send VMS equipment, do business dishonestly, and leave long-term consequences. Fishermen, if they want to get rich from the sea, have no choice but to unite and join forces to both exploit and protect aquatic resources, and to be supervisors so that “ghost ships” cannot go to sea!

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/lam-an-chan-chinh-tren-bien-co-de-129602.html