Quang Nam takes tough action against fishing vessels violating the law, striving to remove the IUU 'yellow card'

Control each ship

Head of the Quang Nam Fisheries Sub-Department Vo Van Long informed that as of November 7, the number of fishing vessels in the province was 1,794; of which, fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more operating in offshore areas were 646 (41 vessels with a length of 24m or more), fishing vessels with a length of 12m to less than 15m operating in offshore areas were 729, and fishing vessels with a length of 6m to less than 12m operating in coastal areas were 419.

“100% of fishing boats in the province have painted their cabins to mark them according to regulations. The total number of fishing boats 15m or longer that must install voyage monitoring systems is 646. The number of fishing boats that have installed them is 641 (accounting for 99.2%); the number of fishing boats that have not installed them is 5 (accounting for 0.8%),” said Mr. Long.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien inspected Quang Nam province in mid-September.

According to Mr. Long, Quang Nam province has two type II ports: An Hoa port (Tam Giang commune, Nui Thanh district) and Tam Quang fishing port (Nui Thanh district). 100% of fishing vessels arriving and departing from fishing ports in the province are controlled; the output of exploited aquatic products loaded through the port is monitored, inspected, and recorded in accordance with regulations, ensuring traceability of aquatic products exploited through the port.

The provincial IUU Office was established, consisting of 3 forces: the Department of Fisheries, the Border Guard, and the Center for Fishing Vessel Inspection and Management of Quang Nam Fishing Port; to conduct 24/7 inspection and control all days to guide and support fishermen in combating IUU fishing; inspect and control ships entering and leaving ports according to regulations; and strictly handle administrative violations.

This force also regularly looks up information about fishing vessels arriving at fishing ports on the national fishing vessel monitoring system, the Vnfishbase database, and the list of IUU fishing vessels published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; promptly detects and transfers records to competent authorities to handle violating fishing vessels.

In 2022, the locality confirmed 10 Certificates of Origin of aquatic products. The total confirmed aquatic product output was nearly 301 tons.

Since the beginning of the year, the province has confirmed 6 Certificates of Aquatic Raw Materials. The total confirmed aquatic output is 407.5 tons.

Timely processing

With many drastic solutions, such as coordinating propaganda, sanctioning administrative violations, calling on fishing vessels operating near the permitted sea fishing boundary to quickly leave the dangerous area... therefore, from 2018 to now, Quang Nam province has only had 1 fishing vessel violating the fishing regulations in foreign waters, which was arrested by Thailand on March 14, 2021, and was fined and had the vessel confiscated.

Fishermen are complying with regulations to remove the IUU "yellow card".

In 2022 and 2023, Quang Nam province has not had any fishing vessels violating foreign waters caught and handled.

However, on June 11, 2022, the fishing boat QNa-95005-TS owned by Mr. Tran Van Manh was operating in the permitted fishing area at sea for Vietnamese fishing vessels when it was arrested by the Malaysian Coast Guard along with the captain and 42 fishermen. With active support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and measures to protect citizens, the fishermen on the fishing boat returned home safely.

“In addition, some fishing vessels accidentally went beyond the permitted fishing boundaries at sea during fishing operations. The authorities immediately notified the ship owners/captains who showed signs of violation to quickly leave the waters in the warning area and return to Vietnamese waters,” Mr. Long shared.

Overcoming difficulties

However, Quang Nam province still has some problems, such as monitoring the output of seafood exploited through the port is still low compared to the total output in the whole province because the infrastructure for loading and unloading seafood is not guaranteed (the northern region does not have a designated port), so the output from fishing vessels entering and exiting through Cua Dai - Hoi An seaport is still not monitored.

The work of checking fishing logs and confirming the origin of aquatic products is still not practical due to the lack of specialized staff in fishing.

Therefore, the province has made proposals and recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in advising the Government to have a support mechanism for fishing vessels that are exploiting aquatic products within the permitted boundary area in Vietnam's sea but are detained by foreign countries, helping fishermen feel secure at sea; advising the Government to negotiate and sign a Fisheries Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines, which allows offshore squid fishing vessels to exploit in some offshore areas of the neighboring country; promptly promulgate standards for electronic log equipment and related regulations...

For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is necessary to provide guidance on the permitted exploitation boundaries in overlapping and undemarcated sea areas between Vietnam and other countries to both ensure security and sovereignty at sea and limit the situation of Vietnamese fishing vessels being illegally arrested and handled by foreign authorities.

Cong Sang

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