Continue to remove recommendations on combating illegal fishing IUU

The European Commission (EC) has decided to postpone the 5th inspection on the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing until October 2024. This is an opportunity for coastal provinces and cities across the country in general and Thanh Hoa in particular to continue implementing measures to remove the recommendations that were raised earlier. With the bottlenecks raised at the meetings, Thanh Hoa has been making efforts to work with the whole country to remove the IUU "yellow card" before the inspection date.

The province's inter-sectoral forces have stepped up patrolling and controlling fishermen's fishing activities to ensure compliance with regulations against IUU fishing. Photo: Le Hoa

It has become a daily activity. Every day, the radio system of Lach Bang Port (Nghi Son town) broadcasts news and announcements about the 2017 Fisheries Law, Vietnamese and international regulations on seafood exploitation. Through news and propaganda announcements, fishermen, crew members and workers at the port have "memorized" the regulations for effective and legal fishing activities. Mr. Le Hoang Phuong, captain of ship TH-91591 TS, said: Thanks to the information and propaganda of the Lach Bang Fishing Port Management Board and the authorities, the awareness of fishermen, crew members and local workers about IUU fishing has increased significantly. Before, during and after each trip, we strictly follow the regulations, such as: notifying, registering information about entering/leaving the port, preparing properly, turning on the voyage monitoring devices (GSHT) and performing fishing in the right areas...

According to statistics from the Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board at Lach Bang Port, thanks to good propaganda and mobilization work, violations in IUU fishing by vessels in the area have significantly decreased. In the first 6 months of 2024, there were no more 3-no fishing vessels in the area, only 54 fishing vessels lost connection to the sea journey for more than 10 days and 40 fishing vessels lost connection to the GSHT for more than 6 months; of which 19 cases were contacted, handled by the authorities, and committed not to re-offend; the remaining cases are being contacted and the cause is being investigated.

At fishing ports in the province, the implementation of solutions to combat IUU fishing is also strictly implemented. Mr. Le Van Thang, Director of Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board, said: According to regulations, when a fishing vessel arrives at the port, the captain must notify the fishing port management organization at least 1 hour before the vessel enters the fishing port about the vessel's registration number, vessel size, service requirements and other requirements. Therefore, the Fishing Port Management Board and the staff on duty at the ports have enough time to prepare the wharf and carry out procedures according to regulations. In the first 6 months of 2024, through inspection and supervision activities, 1,376 vessels left the port, 887 vessels arrived at the port, 835 vessels' fishing logs were collected, and the output of aquatic products through the port reached 4,703.7 tons.

To join hands with the whole country to remove the yellow card of the EC, at the 10th online meeting of the National Steering Committee for Combating IUU Fishing, Thanh Hoa province proactively pointed out the current problems, such as: Some ship owners/captains have not recorded or have not fully recorded fishing logs; some fishing vessels over 15m have not entered the designated fishing port to unload seafood; and have not maintained connection to the GSHT device when operating at sea. The whole province still has 69 "3 no" fishing vessels, and the handling of fishing vessels that have lost connection to the GSHT device at sea for more than 10 days is still limited. Along with that, the infrastructure of fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels has not been invested in and upgraded in a timely manner, is not synchronous, and has not met the EC's conditions on traceability of exploited seafood and combating IUU fishing.

By boldly and frankly acknowledging the limitations, Thanh Hoa province has drastically implemented many urgent solutions to overcome the shortcomings. In general, the implementation of the EC's recommendations has had many positive changes. In the first 6 months of 2024, the Provincial Steering Committee on IUU organized 4 inspections on combating IUU fishing in coastal districts, towns, cities and fishing ports. The inspection team worked with each ship owner lacking documents and procedures; verified and handled fishing vessels that lost connection to the GSHT device for more than 6 months, fishing vessels with a length of 24m or more that lost connection at sea for more than 10 days; compiled a list of "3 no" fishing vessels and handed them over to the People's Committees at the commune level and coastal border posts for close monitoring. At the same time, 65 violations were detected and recorded, with a total fine of 884.9 million VND.

With 6,044 fishing vessels, of which 2,735 have been entered into the National Fisheries Database System (Vnfishbase), 1,094/1,094 fishing vessels have installed GSHT equipment, reaching a rate of 100%, more than 82% of fishing vessels have been inspected, 100% of fishing vessels have been marked according to regulations. This is a remarkable and effective number compared to some coastal provinces and cities in fleet management and supervision. To improve efficiency and join hands with the whole country to remove the IUU yellow card, Thanh Hoa province has been directing departments, branches and localities to continue to promote propaganda and widely disseminate regulations on combating IUU fishing; assigning responsibility to heads of Party committees and authorities at all levels in performing the task of combating IUU fishing, especially at the commune/ward level. At the same time, strengthen inspection and control at fishing ports and fishing vessels operating at sea; Urgently identify the cause of the disconnection at sea. Along with that, relevant departments and sectors need to mobilize diverse resources, especially from enterprises and socialized sources to invest in upgrading fishing infrastructure, meeting the requirements of performing the task of controlling fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, and monitoring the volume of aquatic products loaded and unloaded through ports in accordance with regulations.

Le Hoa

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tiep-tuc-thao-go-khuyen-nghi-ve-chong-khai-thac-bat-hop-phap-iuu-220213.htm