BTO-The IUU “yellow card” will not be removed if Vietnam continues to engage in illegal fishing, especially fishing vessels violating foreign waters. That is a firm statement from the European Commission, so before the EC delegation comes to inspect for the 5th time in October, Binh Thuan and the remaining 27 coastal provinces and cities have thoroughly implemented many measures to make fishermen understand clearly: “fish theft means losing everything”.
Rapid Response Team was born.
As one of the localities with the largest number of offshore fishing vessels in the province with 678/1,954 fishing vessels, and also a "hot spot" when many cases of fishing vessels and fishermen violating foreign waters continuously occurred, La Gi town has implemented many strict measures to limit this situation. The peak in 2022, in the town, there were 3 cases/4 fishing vessels/24 workers arrested by Malaysian forces. Faced with that situation, Phuoc Loc Ward Border Guard Station came up with the initiative of "must be close to the people, close to the yard" to grasp the situation. From the list of groups of vessels at risk of violating foreign waters of the town (47 vessels), Phuoc Loc Ward Border Guard Station established a Rapid Response Team, resolutely stepping up the work of controlling and strictly managing these fishing vessels from shore to sea.
Previously, Phuoc Loc Border Guard Station assigned tasks to each officer and soldier to increase the frequency of patrols and strictly control at the estuary, promptly grasp full information about fishing vessels to detect, prevent and handle from the beginning, not allowing local fishing vessels to violate foreign waters. In addition, it actively coordinated with localities and competent agencies to review and count fishing vessels and fishermen who frequently anchor and operate outside the province at high risk to put them under special management and monitoring.
Lieutenant Colonel Ho Anh Tuan - Head of Phuoc Loc Border Guard Station said: “After many incidents of fishing boats and fishermen violating foreign waters occurred in the area, at the end of 2022, the unit assigned tasks to each officer and soldier in charge of 2-3 fishing vessels and proactively planned propaganda, management, supervision as well as directly responsible to the Unit Commander if these vessels violated. Thanks to close monitoring and grasping information from the grassroots, this Rapid Response Team promptly detected suspicious cases to proactively prevent them. In addition, through the fishing vessel monitoring system, each party member and soldier also quickly coordinated with local authorities, village and neighborhood officials to grasp information when detecting fishing boats losing connection for more than 6 hours or crossing the maritime boundary, contacting their families, promptly preventing early and remotely subjects showing signs of violations”.
Overcoming temptation, easy or difficult?
It can be seen that most illegal fishing cases arise from the idea that there are more fish in other countries' waters than in our own waters, and if we can successfully catch one, we will make a big profit. It is this temptation that has led many fishermen to cross the line of "fish theft" time and time again. It is the main fishing season, so most of the boats in the province are out at sea to exploit seafood. Having information that fisherman Tran Van T. had just returned from fishing, soldier Pham Ho Hau of Phuoc Loc Border Guard Station took us to Mr. T.'s house (Ward 8 - Phuoc Hoi Ward - La Gi Town) - one of the three boat owners arrested by Malaysian forces when they tried to illegally fish in a neighboring country in 2022.
When talking to us, Mr. T. did not hesitate to say: “2022 is the fourth time I have been arrested by foreign authorities for “fish theft”, the previous times were in 2007, 2017, 2019. Each time I was arrested, they confiscated my property, destroyed the ship, and imprisoned the captain and crew for 3-5 months. After each release, I lost everything, billions of dong in damages just because of the moments when I could not resist the sea on the other side where there were many fish... The savings from previous trips were all gone with the waves, so when I returned, I did not know what to do. After more than 40 years of being involved in the fishing industry, partly because of the burden of my family, in early 2023 I borrowed from the bank, borrowed everywhere to buy a new 16-meter long boat, continuing to fish in the Truong Sa sea area”.
Mr. T. is currently on the local special watch list and is regularly met by border guards to propagate and mobilize. During the conversation, I heard the soldiers call him "father T." very closely, considering him as a relative after many visits to his house. Regularly participating in training sessions and disseminating regulations on fishing, Mr. T. clearly understands that illegal fishing in foreign waters not only causes damage to himself but also affects the reputation of Vietnamese seafood products and the national image. "From my own bitter experience, during coffee and afternoon tea sessions with "believers", I always advise everyone not to go astray, not to be greedy for immediate profits and be infamous for life. Now, according to the new regulations, violating foreign waters will not only result in confiscation of property, fines of billions of dong, but also a prison sentence of up to 3 years...", Mr. T. shared. Having a firm grasp of the regulations, as well as experiencing many lonely months in a foreign land, is enough for Mr. T. to understand and not dare to cross the border again, even though since the beginning of the year, his 5 trips out to sea have not been profitable. With what he has experienced, it is hoped that fisherman T. will be an effective propagandist so that other ship owners and captains who intend to "steal fish" will also be timid.
From La Gi, other localities such as Phu Quy and Tuy Phong districts have also drastically implemented and established Rapid Response Teams, combining propaganda, mobilization, and requesting commitments; while mobilizing the participation of the entire political system to send cadres, soldiers, and party members in the area to be in charge of monitoring, supervising, and promptly preventing fishing vessels from violating foreign waters. Thanks to that, apart from the case of a fishing vessel (Ham Tan district) violating and being arrested by Malaysia in early 2023 (the province has administratively fined the vessel owner 900 million VND), up to now, there have been no more fishing vessels violating foreign waters.
Request the Coast Guard force to coordinate with relevant forces to organize a peak period from now until September 30, 2024, controlling 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports and temporary ports; resolutely not allowing fishing vessels that do not meet the conditions for fishing to leave ports and ports to engage in fishing activities at sea, without tolerance, no prohibited areas, no exceptions. If any fishing vessel is allowed to illegally violate in foreign waters, the heads of relevant agencies, units and localities shall be responsible to the Provincial People's Committee.
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai emphasized at the IUU Steering Committee meetings
Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/chong-khai-thac-iuu-truoc-dot-sat-hach-quan-trong-cuoi-cung-bai-2-loi-canh-tinh-tu-the-vang-ec-123454.html
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