Nghe An speeds up to achieve the goal of removing the 'EC yellow card'

Check and control fishing vessels

Before each sea trip, fisherman Nguyen Van Loc, owner of the ship number NA 90705 in Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau) said that for many years now, preparing all the necessary documents, registering the itinerary and checking the satellite connection equipment for the ship has become a habit, helping the crew members feel secure when going to sea.

There was a ship that set sail at the same time as Mr. Loc's ship, and just stopped at Lach Van Border Control Station to submit procedures, fisherman Nguyen Van Trung in Nam Chien Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district said that Dien Bich fishermen always comply with the provisions of the law when working at sea, entering and leaving the port. And he affirmed that only by complying with the regulations on controlling fishing activities can the "yellow card" be removed, which is also helping himself and his profession to develop sustainably.

Fishing vessels must declare information about their vessels and crew members before going out to sea. Photo: Hai Thuong

Controlling fishing activities and fishing equipment is also one of the six recommendations that the European Commission's Inspection Team EC proposed after the third inspection in October 2022. Specifically, the EC recommended "continuing to review and adjust to increase effectiveness and tighten management against IUU fishing".

In Nghe An, measures to prevent and eventually end fishing vessels violating regulations on fishing, such as regulations on fishing areas; registration and inspection of fishing vessels; certification of food safety for fishing vessels; management and issuance of fishing licenses... have so far had many positive changes.

According to data from the Department of Fisheries, as of October 18, 2023, the total number of fishing vessels in Nghe An that have been granted registration is 2,470, equal to 90.91%. In addition to the fishing vessels that have been counted, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed the Department of Fisheries to coordinate with localities to propagate and guide ship owners to carry out procedures to deregister burned, sunken, dismantled, missing and sold vessels outside the province that have not completed the deregistration procedures. At the same time, ensure that deregistered vessels do not participate in local fishing activities.

The number of fishing vessels with valid registration is 1,266/1,653 vessels subject to registration, reaching 76.59% of the number of vessels with a length of over 12m and reaching 100% of the number of vessels in operation. The remaining fishing vessels that have not been granted or re-granted fishing licenses account for 9.43%, the reason is that the vessels are in the process of changing their registration numbers, or the vessels purchased from other provinces have not been licensed; the vessels have expired licenses but have not been renewed because they are on shore, waiting to be sold, or the journey monitoring equipment has not been connected.

Regarding the issuance of food safety certificates for fishing vessels, 70 vessels have been issued in October 2023 (68 newly issued vessels, 02 re-issued vessels). As of October 18, 2023, the number of fishing vessels with valid food safety certificates is 919/1,115 vessels, reaching 82.42% of the total number of fishing vessels that must be issued. The total number of vessels with valid licenses is 2,237/2,470 vessels, reaching 90.57% of the number of vessels with a length of over 6m, reaching 100% of the number of vessels in operation. In addition, in October 2023, the Department of Fisheries revoked 05 fishing licenses for fishing vessels that had been deregistered.

One of the important contents contributing to "removing the yellow card" is to regularly and fully update fishing vessel data to the national fisheries database software VNFishbase. In Nghe An, the total number of fishing vessels updated to the software reached 100% of the total number of registered fishing vessels.

Checking the fishing vessels' navigation equipment before leaving port. Photo: Hai Thuong

Promoting the effectiveness of fishing vessel monitoring equipment

One of the important and effective measures to control and help fishermen exploit effectively and in accordance with international regulations is to install and use VMS (Vehicle Monitoring System) for fishing vessels. Thanks to these devices, the authorities can grasp the scope of operations and manage to ensure that fishing vessels do not violate fishing in unauthorized waters.

In Hoang Mai Town, Mr. Ho Huu Tho - Vice Chairman of Quynh Di Ward People's Committee, Hoang Mai Town said that the Fisheries and Processing Association was established by the locality. Through this association, the government and Quynh Phuong Border Guard Station coordinated to propagate and organize for people to sign commitments on IUU.

In addition, the Border Guard force will also coordinate with localities and functional agencies to focus on zoning and classifying high-risk subjects violating foreign waters; strictly controlling fishing vessels leaving port, not allowing fishing vessels that do not meet the conditions to leave port; strictly handling fishing vessels violating VMS regulations, vessels violating foreign waters; handling violations at fishing ports. Thereby creating changes in awareness and actions for fishermen in the process of doing business at sea, especially the installation and maintenance of GSHT equipment.

In Nghe An, as of October 18, 2023, the whole province had 1,069/1,115 fishing vessels installed with GSHT equipment, reaching 95.87%. To ensure the effectiveness of GSHT, functional forces organize 24/7 duty at the Shore Station - Department of Fisheries to monitor and inform fishing vessel owners about vessels losing VMS connection, crossing maritime boundaries, requesting compliance with legal regulations; synthesizing, making lists and exchanging information between functional forces for coordination and handling.

A large proportion of fishing vessels now maintain the operation of the GPS device well, effectively ensuring that they do not violate international regulations in fishing; connect to receive guidance and support in case of emergency. However, there are still cases of disconnection of the GPS device.

In October 2023 alone, the number of fishing vessels losing VMS connection at sea was 1,463. Of which, the number of fishing vessels losing connection for more than 10 days at sea was 65, bringing the cumulative number of fishing vessels in Nghe An losing VMS connection at sea in the first 10 months of 2023 to 14,873.

According to the staff of the Fisheries Sub-Department, to minimize this situation, when a connection loss is detected, the staff on duty will contact to remind and request fishing vessels to re-check their equipment. In addition, announcements will be sent via the 7918.KHz conversation channel periodically and regularly. Particularly for fishing vessels that have lost connection for more than 10 days, there will be specific handling measures such as making a reminder record; requesting the ship owner to fix it, commit to maintaining GSHT operations in accordance with regulations and comply with other regulations on seafood exploitation activities. Or requesting the fishing port not to allow fishing vessels to unload seafood, leave the channel without a record explaining the reason for the loss of connection, and not having paid the subscription fee to maintain GSHT operations in accordance with regulations.

In addition, GSHT providers are required to check the operating status of GSHT devices to clarify the reasons why fishing vessels have lost connection. And so far, the number of fishing vessels that have lost GSHT connection for more than 10 days that have been handled is 421/427 vessels.

Also through the GSHT equipment, in October 2023, the number of fishing vessels crossing the permitted boundary line at sea was 07. In the first 10 months of 2023, the number of fishing vessels crossing the permitted boundary line at sea was 122, in which the main reason was that the fishing grounds were far away, so the fishing vessels took a shortcut across the boundary line to save fuel, or some fishing vessels had broken positioning equipment or broken engines, so they drifted across the permitted boundary line at sea...

Nghe An province has 3,614 fishing boats. The number of fishing boats required to be registered (with a length of 6m or more) by October 18, 2023 is 2,717, of which 2,470 have been registered and updated to the Vnfishbase database system (reaching 90.91%). Photo: Hoai Thu

Mr. Tran Nhu Long - Deputy Head of the Department of Fisheries said that the authorities regularly coordinate with the Border Guard to provide data to handle fishing vessels that violate regulations, moving towards ending violations of fishing boundaries at sea. Because this is one of the mandatory contents that must be strictly implemented to meet the standards to remove the "yellow card".

Mr. Long emphasized that in the coming time, the Department will continue to coordinate with agencies and units to urge and resolutely direct the completion of the installation of journey monitoring equipment on fishing vessels. Strictly inspect and control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports according to regulations, improve the quality of monitoring of aquatic product output loaded and unloaded through ports; strictly handle fishing vessels that do not meet the prescribed conditions. In addition, monitor and make a list of fishing vessels at high risk of violating IUU fishing. Investigate and punish 100% of cases of Nghe An fishing vessels violating illegal fishing in foreign waters and inform the media. From now until the end of the year, it is necessary to speed up and be more drastic in preventing violations and overcoming shortcomings to achieve the goal of "removing the tag" according to the roadmap.

From October 10 to October 18, 2023, the EC Inspection Delegation will visit Vietnam to inspect the situation and results of combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and to remove the yellow card warning for Vietnamese seafood. This is the fourth inspection by the EC in Vietnam. Previously, the delegation conducted the third inspection in October 2022 and made 6 recommendations for Vietnam to implement and handle to meet the criteria for "card removal", including:

(1) Vietnamese fishing vessels continue to violate the law on fishing in foreign waters. (2) The records of export shipments at 02 enterprises (T&H, Thinh Hung) are suspected of fraud, not transparent and not ensuring legality. (3) The implementation of the PSMA Agreement is still limited in controlling, verifying, and comparing information on foreign fishing vessels via VMS, AIS. (4) The legal framework needs to continue to be reviewed and adjusted to increase effectiveness and tighten the management of anti-IUU fishing. (5) Law enforcement and sanctions against IUU fishing acts at the local level are still very weak. (6) There is an imbalance between fishing strength and aquatic resources.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/nghe-an-tang-toc-thuc-hien-muc-tieu-go-the-vang-ec-post278590.html