Determined to join hands to remove the "yellow card" warning for seafood

Giving gifts to fishermen in the province in the program "Lighting up the sea with fishermen".

According to the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance (Department of Agriculture and Environment): As of early April 2025, the whole province had 1,842 fishing vessels and boats (of which Giao Thuy district had 667 vessels, Hai Hau had 643 vessels, Nghia Hung had 489 vessels, Truc Ninh had 41 vessels, Nam Truc had 1 vessel and Nam Dinh city had 1 vessel) with a total of 5,715 direct workers at sea. Determining that people's awareness is of key importance, since the beginning of the year, at the fishing ports of Ninh Co and Thanh Vui (Hai Hau), the interdisciplinary force has deployed a series of extensive propaganda activities, distributed thousands of leaflets, organized training, and instructed fishermen to install electronic seafood traceability software (eCDT). Legal information and regulations on IUU fishing are disseminated directly to each ship owner and captain, contributing to raising the sense of responsibility in each voyage... Thereby raising the awareness and responsibility of officials, members and fishermen about the role of preventing and combating IUU fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the area, focusing resources on implementation, determined to remove the EC's "yellow card".

Along with propaganda work, inspection and handling of violations have also been resolutely implemented. At fishing ports and wharves, from the beginning of the year to March 24, 2025, the Nam Dinh Province Fisheries Inspection, Control and Supervision Representative Office inspected 775 vessels, of which 349 fishing vessels docked and 426 vessels left the port. Guidance and support for 1,553 vessels to complete procedures for declaring the origin of aquatic products via eCDT, of which Ninh Co Fishing Port had 1,407 (691 docked, 716 left the port), Thanh Vui Fishing Port had 146 (73 docked, 73 left the port). The Department of Agriculture and Environment directed the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control to coordinate with the stations and the Border Control Station of Hai Thinh Port to review and verify fishing vessels from other provinces, especially fishing vessels from Ba Ria - Vung Tau province that are often anchored and not operating or have signs of violating IUU fishing. Report the results of the review and verification to relevant agencies and units for handling; coordinate in verifying and handling fishing vessels of the province that violate regulations on voyage monitoring devices (VMS), fishing vessels that cross the maritime boundary; coordinate with Ninh Co Fishing Port and Thanh Vui Fishing Port to inspect and control fishing vessels leaving and arriving at ports in accordance with regulations. Announce the deletion of registration of 8 fishing vessels that are missing, announce the deletion of registration of 5 fishing vessels and delete 10 fishing vessels...

In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Environment coordinates with departments, branches and localities to review and compile a list of fishing vessels that are not qualified to operate and send it to localities for management and supervision; promptly register qualified fishing vessels, issue certificates of technical safety of fishing vessels, fishing licenses, install VMS equipment according to regulations and update and fully match fishing vessel information on the National Fisheries Database (VNFishbase) and the Fishing Vessel Monitoring System to ensure timeliness, synchronization, accuracy and consistency. The People's Committees of Giao Thuy, Nghia Hung, Hai Hau, Truc Ninh, Nam Truc districts and Nam Dinh city, based on the list provided by the Department of Agriculture and Environment, assign the Party committees, authorities, functional agencies and grassroots organizations to monitor and manage the locations of fishing vessels anchored.

According to the assessment of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance, up to now, fishermen in the province have had a serious awareness of combating IUU fishing and are in high agreement with the tightening of management by the authorities. When going to sea for production, ship owners and captains have fully prepared documents and papers according to regulations. Entering and leaving fishing ports has gradually become routine; logging is carried out seriously, responsibly and clearly. Since the beginning of the year, our province has not had a ship losing connection signal for more than 10 days at sea. Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, owner of a fishing boat in Xuan Huong hamlet, Hai Xuan commune (Hai Hau) said: "Through the propaganda work of the Provincial Border Guard and the Fisheries Surveillance force, we fishermen have a firm grasp of the State's regulations on combating IUU fishing. When going to sea, we proactively complete the procedures, prepare full documents according to regulations, and exploit the right sea area as registered".

Comrade Tran Duc Viet, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said: In order to effectively prevent and stop IUU fishing violations by fishing vessels; to completely resolve existing problems and limitations according to the EC's recommendations, in the coming time, the Department of Agriculture and Environment will coordinate with relevant agencies and localities to strengthen inspection and control, not allowing unqualified fishing vessels to operate at sea; requiring all fishing vessels participating in the activities to draw registration numbers and mark fishing vessels according to regulations; strictly handle cases of IUU fishing violations. Every week, a list of fishing vessels at high risk of IUU fishing violations will be created and posted on the database on the Fishing Vessel Monitoring System so that law enforcement agencies can know, inspect and handle them according to the provisions of law. Review and update information on ship owners, locations, operating status... of each fishing vessel in the province on the VMS System to ensure accurate information, resolutely not allowing fishing vessels to lose connection signal for many days at sea but not knowing the location and manager of the fishing vessel. Organize VMS System to monitor, supervise, detect and promptly notify fishing vessels violating VMS regulations. Check and control to ensure that 100% of fishing vessels leaving port to participate in activities in sea areas must comply with the prescribed conditions, especially the regulations on the VMS system. At the same time, ensure that 100% of fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more operating at sea must maintain connection with the VMS system.

Regarding the traceability of exploited aquatic products, the Department of Agriculture and Environment directed fishing ports that have announced the opening of ports to organize daily data entry on Google Sheets managed by the Department of Fisheries and continue to deploy the eCDT System for 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, monitoring output as a basis for traceability, issuing certificates of origin of exploited aquatic products and certificates of origin of exploited aquatic products according to regulations. Strengthen human resources and means to promote digital transformation, apply technology, upgrade the system of monitoring fishing vessel journeys in fishing vessel management and inspect, control, and monitor fishing vessel activities at sea, fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, entering and leaving ports, and tracing the origin of exploited seafood. Continue to promote propaganda work at home and abroad on Vietnam's results in combating IUU fishing. At the same time, carefully prepare the program, plan, and content of working with the EC Inspection Delegation in the coming time.

Article and photos: Van Dai

Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/kinh-te/202504/quyet-tamchung-tay-go-bocanh-bao-the-vang-doi-voi-thuy-san-72b645d/