Quang Ninh tightens control over IUU

Removing the yellow card against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is an important and urgent task for Vietnam. In preparation for working with the 5th EC Inspection Delegation scheduled for the end of the second quarter of 2025, coastal localities, including Quang Ninh, are actively reviewing, monitoring fishing fleets and tracing the origin of caught seafood.

Mr. Ha Van Thanh (owner of ship QN-90234.TS) declared procedures when arriving at Cai Rong Fishing Port (Van Don district) and submitted the fishing logbook.

Cai Rong fishing port (Van Don district) is the only fishing port in the province that has a complete fisheries control apparatus. Currently, all fishing vessels entering and leaving the port must carry out the declaration process, present relevant administrative procedures to ensure that specialized forces control all records of fishing vessels entering and leaving the port, monitor the output of aquatic products unloaded through the port... to promptly correct and ensure compliance with legal regulations.

Mr. Nguyen Van Do (owner of ship QN-90618.TS, Vice Chairman of Van Don District Fisheries Union) said: The union has 21 fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more. On each offshore trip, the union propagates to each other about exploiting in the licensed area and absolutely does not violate foreign waters. In addition, the union strictly follows administrative procedures when docking and leaving the port, especially declaring the fishing log when returning to the port, which is submitted on the same day.

Cai Rong Fishing Port Management Board (Van Don district) arranges points for fishing boats to load and unload exploited aquatic products and control output through the port.

In February 2025, the provincial Fisheries Inspection, Examination and Control Representative Office organized direct propaganda for 45 ship owners/captains; issued 27 leaflets and propaganda documents and maintained the distribution of bulletins on 14 illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.

Mr. Dang Ngoc Thiet (Port Manager of Cai Rong Port, Van Don District) said: The Fishing Port Management Board has actively coordinated with the border guards, the Waterway Traffic Police, and the traffic force to strictly inspect the vessels, strictly prohibiting the practice of fishing in the 3 no's and has organized the signing of a commitment to warn the vessels about not fishing in the wrong areas, especially in foreign waters. At the same time, Cai Rong Fishing Port also makes reasonable arrangements for vehicles to enter the port to unload exploited aquatic products in the most convenient and safe way as well as closely monitor the output of aquatic products unloaded through the port to issue receipts for aquatic products unloaded through the port.

Representatives of the provincial Fisheries Inspection, Examination and Control Office check the fishing vessel's journey monitoring equipment before leaving port.

Continuing to implement the Government's directives to effectively combat IUU fishing, Quang Ninh province has directed coastal localities to strictly control fishing vessels leaving and entering ports at control points, and resolutely not allow them to participate in fishing activities at sea if they do not comply with regulations, especially the equipment for monitoring fishing vessels must be in working condition before allowing fishing vessels to leave ports to operate at sea. The authorities organize to control fishing vessels and aquatic product output at established points according to regulations and inspect, verify and handle 100% of IUU fishing activities.

In 2024, the whole province detected and punished 632 violations in the field of exploitation and protection of aquatic resources, with fines of nearly 8 billion VND, mainly for the following acts: No fishing license; violating prohibited areas and fishing gear; not recording and submitting fishing logs, fishing reports, violating disconnection or not maintaining journey monitoring equipment, and communication equipment, which were severely punished. Notably, in 2024, the whole province detected 4 criminal cases of Destruction of aquatic resources that have been and are being tried.

Quang Ninh fishing boats go offshore to exploit the sea.

In 2025, agencies and localities in the province will continue to organize a peak period to handle violations in the field of exploitation and protection of aquatic resources, focusing on thoroughly handling "2 no" and "3 no" fishing vessels, strictly handling cases of fishing vessels violating illegal fishing, inspecting, verifying, and strictly handling fishing vessels that lose connection signal offshore for more than 6 hours, more than 10 days, fishing vessels that cross maritime boundaries, fishing vessels showing signs of violating foreign waters...

Mr. Phan Thanh Nghi, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said: Strictly implementing regulations on IUU, Quang Ninh province focuses on completing   Register 100% of vessels according to regulations of size 6m or more and manage statistics of vessels 6m or less. For vessels operating in the open sea, the management will be very strict, ensuring that the offshore fleet is closely monitored through the VPS positioning system. The unit tightens management so that the fleet absolutely does not violate the fishing area, especially violating the sea boundary.

Together with coastal localities across the country, Quang Ninh province is making efforts to implement many solutions, resolutely combating illegal fishing, thereby working with the whole country to quickly remove the European Commission's yellow card on Vietnamese seafood.

Hai Ha

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/quang-ninh-quyet-liet-trong-kiem-soat-iuu-3349035.html