Agree on policy to support subscription fees for satellite services to monitor fishing vessel journeys

Recently, the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee met and agreed to propose a policy to support the subscription fee for satellite services to monitor fishing vessels in the province. Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Doan Anh Dung, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting. Also attending were Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai; Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Minh; members of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of relevant departments, branches and sectors.

At the meeting, the leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on the request for approval to develop a policy to support the subscription fee for the satellite service of monitoring fishing vessels in Binh Thuan province. Accordingly, the whole province currently has 1,945 fishing vessels in operation with a length of 15m or more installed with a voyage monitoring device (VMS), reaching a rate of 100%. Concentrated in 4 key fishing localities: La Gi, Phu Quy, Phan Thiet and Tuy Phong.

English: Anh-Cat-Supervision-Center-nl-4-.jpg — Provincial fishing vessel monitoring center (documentary photo).

According to the provisions of Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP of the Government, VMS devices must be turned on 24/7 from the time the vessel leaves the port to operate at sea until it returns to port. However, through the fishing vessel monitoring system, from the beginning of 2021 to now, nearly 35,000 fishing vessels (about 1,200 vessels) have lost connection to VMS devices at sea. Every day, the number of fishing vessels losing connection at sea and on shore accounts for 26 to 40%. The reason for losing connection is due to not paying subscription fees, the network operator disconnecting the satellite service accounts for 60%. There are 326 fishing vessel owners facing economic difficulties, not paying service fees...

The whole province has 326 fishing boat owners with economic difficulties who have not paid service fees.

When fishing vessel owners do not pay the satellite service subscription fee on time, the VMS provider will disconnect the VMS device, leading to ineffective data of the fishing vessel monitoring system, making it difficult to prevent and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). Not only that, there are also potential risks to life and property for the vessel owners and workers if there is a vessel incident or unusual natural disaster situations because there is no equipment to assist. Therefore, according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, supporting the subscription fee for the satellite service to monitor fishing vessel journeys will help vessel owners significantly reduce production costs. Limit the cases of closing, disconnecting, and removing VMS equipment at sea, and strictly follow specific regulations and instructions in seafood exploitation. Timely rescue for fishermen when incidents or natural disasters occur at sea... Accordingly, it is expected that 1,950 fishing vessels registered in Binh Thuan that have installed VMS equipment according to regulations will be supported with a subscription fee of VND 2,200,000/1 vessel/1 year. The support period is 3 years, from January 2024 to December 2026.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Doan Anh Dung spoke at the meeting.

Concluding the meeting, on behalf of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Doan Anh Dung agreed on the policy of developing a policy to support the subscription fee for satellite services to monitor fishing vessels. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with the Office of the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Justice to carry out the next steps in accordance with the procedures and order.

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