On the afternoon of June 1, in Hanoi, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang chaired the 7th meeting of the National Steering Committee on Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU). The meeting was attended by representatives of a number of relevant ministries, sectors and coastal localities.
Reporting on the results of combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and removing the "yellow card" warning from the European Commission (EC), the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - the standing unit of the Steering Committee, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that after more than 5 years (from October 23, 2017) of implementing solutions to combat IUU fishing, implementing EC recommendations, removing the "yellow card" warning and through the inspection results from the 3rd EC Inspection Team in October 2022, the situation of combating IUU fishing has had positive changes. However, there are still many limitations that are slow to be overcome locally, which have been recognized, assessed and recommended by the EC Inspection Team.
Accordingly, the EC continues to acknowledge and appreciate Vietnam's political determination, especially the attention and drastic direction of the Standing Secretariat, the Government and the Prime Minister.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has coordinated well with ministries, branches and localities, directed and implemented many positive solutions to combat IUU fishing; prepared well the content, plan and working program with the EC Inspection Team, provided full relevant records and documents to ensure transparency, honesty and objectivity. In fact, the situation of combating IUU fishing has improved a lot compared to the second actual inspection in 2019.
Specifically, the basic legal framework has now met international requirements on combating IUU fishing and continues to be improved in a positive direction. Fleet management and installation of VMS equipment (equipment providing information on the location, tracks and some activities of vessels to managers, providing information services between management stations and vessels operating in the system's control area - PV) have had positive changes; a software system has been deployed to monitor and manage administrative violation handling activities in the fisheries sector. Overall, the implementation of control of imported aquatic products under the provisions of the Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) has improved compared to before.
The report also pointed out some shortcomings and limitations in the implementation of the fight against IUU fishing. Accordingly, the organization and implementation of the Fisheries Law and regulations against IUU fishing are not yet consistent and consistent among localities. Currently, some localities have implemented relatively well, while many localities have not yet met the requirements.
The Law on Fisheries and regulations against IUU fishing are not yet consistent and consistent among localities, and some localities have not yet implemented them satisfactorily.
Regarding the prevention and handling of Vietnamese fishing vessels illegally exploiting seafood in foreign waters, law enforcement forces at sea patrol, inspect, and control in adjacent and overlapping sea areas, and key areas to prevent and handle fishing vessels with violations. To date, the forces have prevented and stopped the situation of Vietnamese fishing vessels violating in Pacific countries and island nations.
Localities have done well, significantly reducing violations such as Phu Yen and Tien Giang. Meanwhile, some provinces still have violations such as Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ben Tre, Kien Giang.
Discussions at the meeting showed that the main reason is that the heads of authorities at all levels in some localities have not paid due attention to the task of combating IUU fishing, aquatic resources are increasingly depleted and there is a lack of strong enough sanctions against illegal seafood operators. In addition, there are still cases of fishermen sending navigation equipment to other vessels or using other measures to avoid being monitored.
Law enforcement and administrative sanctions have been actively implemented in many localities and law enforcement forces at sea. In 2020, the forces handled over 2,000 cases with a total fine of over VND 61 billion; in 2021, nearly 1,700 cases with a total fine of over VND 21 billion; by 2022, nearly 1,000 cases were handled with a total fine of over VND 16 billion; since the beginning of the year, more than VND 13 billion has been handled.
Some provinces have increased penalties for violations of foreign waters and violations of VMS... Typically, on April 25, 2023, Kien Giang province issued a decision to sanction 27 violations against fishing boat owner Nguyen Van Dieu, with a total fine of more than 2.5 billion VND, and applied additional sanctions according to regulations.
Delegates commented that, in general, the rate of cases handled is still low compared to reality and uneven among localities, especially violations such as not recording or submitting fishing logs, not maintaining or disconnecting the journey monitoring device on fishing vessels, fishing in the wrong area, using prohibited fishing gear, etc.
Proposing key tasks and solutions to combat IUU fishing until October 2023, preparing to work with the 4th European Commission Inspection Delegation, delegates attending the Conference requested that forces take strong measures to resolutely prevent and not allow fishing vessels to illegally exploit seafood in foreign waters. Along with that, trace the origin of exploited seafood; control imported raw materials of exploited seafood, especially imported by container ships; focus on handling IUU violations.
Concluding the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; highly appreciated the results achieved by the functional forces in the efforts to combat IUU fishing in recent times.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized that if the “yellow card” is not resolutely removed, it may be upgraded to a “red card”, meaning that Vietnam will lose its seafood export market to Europe. The Deputy Prime Minister stated that illegal fishing is not only narrowing the seafood export market but also affecting the country’s image. The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that there has been no effective solution so far and there are still cases of lax management in some localities.
Expressing his determination to prevent illegal fishing in accordance with the EC’s recommendations, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang suggested that in the immediate future, in October, ministries, sectors and localities should try their best to have the yellow card withdrawn; expressing his hope that ministries, sectors and localities will be more determined and responsible.
Assessing that some problems have been identified and basically have solutions. In localities, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested paying more attention to personnel work because this is the root of everything. "Whichever Chairman of the Committee or Vice Chairman of the Provincial Committee is resolute will be different. The general spirit is that we will do it more strongly and with more deterrence", Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized.
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