Fishermen are excited to receive support for VMS subscription fees from 2025

Based on the thoughts and aspirations of voters and concerns about solutions for comprehensive economic and social development in the province, especially the fisheries sector, the 11th term People's Council of Binh Thuan province has made efforts to develop policies suitable to the characteristics of the local situation.

60% of ship owners do not pay charter fees

Binh Thuan currently has 1,949 fishing vessels with the largest length of 15 m or more that are required to install VMS equipment according to the provisions of the 2017 Fisheries Law. Up to now, the whole province has 1,941/1,949 fishing vessels in operation that have installed voyage monitoring equipment (VMS), reaching a rate of 100%; the number of fishing vessels that have not installed VMS is 8 due to inactivity (3 vessels are damaged and lying on shore waiting for sale, 5 vessels are waiting for execution of judgment). According to the provisions of Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP, VMS equipment installed on fishing vessels must be turned on 24/7 from the time the vessel leaves the port to operate at sea until it returns to the port. Maintaining regular operation of VMS equipment, in addition to complying with the provisions of the law on fisheries and meeting the conditions for removing the EC's "Yellow Card", also helps management agencies increase effectiveness and efficiency in managing, monitoring, preventing and combating IUU fishing. In particular, monitoring, detecting, warning, preventing and handling fishing vessels and fishermen in the province violating foreign waters, and trawling boats (including flying trawlers) operating in the wrong fishing areas.

100% of fishing vessels over 15m in operation have installed VMS monitoring equipment.

It is convenient, but in recent years, aquatic resources have declined, gasoline prices have fluctuated, and Vietnamese seafood products have been warned by the EC with a "yellow card", so the seafood exploitation industry is facing many challenges and difficulties. Many fishing vessels are at risk of being stranded for a long time due to lack of operating costs and lack of sea labor. Mr. Nguyen Van Chien - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that currently, fishing vessels losing connection to VMS equipment at sea is quite common, greatly affecting the control and close monitoring of fishing vessels operating at sea, posing a high risk of fishing vessels violating illegal fishing in foreign waters. One of the reasons is that ship owners are facing financial difficulties and operating ineffectively. Through the fishing vessel monitoring system, from the beginning of 2022 to now, nearly 40,000 fishing vessels have lost connection to VMS equipment at sea. Of which, the loss of connection due to ship owners not paying subscription fees accounts for about 60%.

Many fishing vessels do not maintain VMS connection due to non-payment of fees.

According to statistics from service providers, the number of vessels that have run out of service fees as of August 16, 2024 is 485/1,941 vessels equipped with VMS equipment. When fishing vessel owners do not pay the satellite service subscription fee on time, the VMS equipment provider will disconnect the VMS equipment, leading to ineffective data from the fishing vessel monitoring system, making the work of preventing and combating IUU fishing difficult. The loss of connection to the VMS equipment of fishing vessels while operating at sea not only affects the efforts and efforts of sectors and levels in preventing and combating IUU fishing, but also poses potential risks to the lives and property of the vessel owners and workers themselves, if there is a vessel incident or unusual natural disaster situations because there is no equipment to assist.

Maintaining VMS equipment has created additional pressure on the financial resources of fishermen to go offshore. (Photo: N. Lan)

Policy of great significance

Staying at sea with peace of mind is not only the wish of fishermen, but also the desire of all levels and sectors to accompany them on the journey of economic development and sovereignty protection. Installing and maintaining VMS equipment is very difficult for fishermen. In addition to the average purchase price of 18 - 25 million VND/machine, fishermen also have to pay a monthly subscription fee of 350,000 - 435,000 VND/machine (average 381,000 VND/machine) depending on the service provider, which has created additional pressure on the cost of going to sea and staying at sea for fishermen in the area.

Maintaining VMS at sea helps agencies increase efficiency in managing, monitoring, and preventing IUU fishing.

In response to this urgency, at the 28th session (special session) - the 11th Provincial People's Council passed a Resolution regulating the policy of supporting VMS subscription fees in the province. Accordingly, the resolution stipulates that the VMS satellite service subscription fee support level is 175,000 VND/month/ship, nearly 50% of the current monthly VMS satellite service subscription fee. The total estimated support cost for about 1,950 ships in 3 years is 12,285 billion VND, an average of 4,095 billion VND per year, from the provincial budget and this policy takes effect from January 1, 2025.

Upon receiving the information, many fishing boat owners and fishermen in the province were happy, because the journey to go offshore always has the attention and support of the State and all levels and sectors. Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - one of the fishermen specializing in offshore fishing in Duc Thang ward could not help but be excited with the above support policy. Mr. Thanh shared: "Through the press, I learned about the above information, I am very happy although I only received 50% support for the subscription fee, but it is a great encouragement for fishermen to go offshore. Previously, we were supported with the cost of installing VMS equipment of 10 million VND/device, now we are also supported with the monthly subscription fee, we are really assured when maintaining the VMS connection 24/24, in case the ship has an accident or the crew members on board have health problems, encounter bad weather, we will be supported promptly".

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien affirmed: “The issuance of the policy to support the subscription fee for VMS satellite services in the province is of great significance, aiming to seriously implement the direction of the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing, together with the whole country to remove the EC “Yellow Card”, towards building a responsible and sustainable fishery. At the same time, maintaining VMS at sea also contributes to supporting the implementation of good work in preventing and fighting natural disasters, search and rescue at sea and supporting fishermen to stay at sea, affirming the sovereignty and sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland”.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/ngu-dan-phan-khoi-khi-duoc-ho-tro-phi-thue-bao-vms-tu-nam-2025-125899.html