Nearly 7 years since the European Commission (EC) issued a “yellow card” warning to Vietnam’s seafood industry, along with the whole country, Thanh Hoa province has made efforts to take action, deploy many urgent and drastic solutions to handle violations of regulations on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. However, up to now, the province still has some limitations that require the authorities to take strong action and strictly handle violations so that the fight against IUU fishing is effective, and to prepare well for the 5th inspection by the EC, helping Vietnam to soon remove the “yellow card”.
The provincial authorities conducted inspections, resolutely drew up records, and imposed administrative penalties on fishing vessels that violated regulations on combating IUU fishing while operating at sea.
According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, although Thanh Hoa province has actively participated in the fight against IUU fishing, achieving many remarkable changes, in some localities there are still cases of fishing vessels being interrupted and losing connection during fishing at sea; some fishing vessels over 15m do not enter the designated fishing port to unload aquatic products; infrastructure of fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels have not been invested in and upgraded in a timely manner, lacking synchronization...
Mr. Tran Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Tien Ward (Sam Son City), said: "In order to implement the directives and plans of the Central, the province and the city on combating IUU fishing, the ward has established an IUU review team to promote the implementation of regulations by ship owners in the area. Accordingly, 30/30 local offshore fishing vessels have signed a commitment to maintain voyage monitoring equipment when fishing at sea. For some "3 no" and "2 no" vessels, the ward has promoted and mobilized ship owners to register, inspect and carry out necessary procedures to be legally "identified" when fishing. During the process of implementing IUU review, the ward strictly handles violations, makes records and sends them to the authorities, Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board... and resolutely does not allow fishing when there are violations and signs of violations. In cases of intentional violations, we will coordinate with superior agencies and functional forces to handle administrative fines, detain ships and carry out handling procedures according to regulations.
Thanks to appropriate propaganda and resolute handling of violations, the compliance with regulations on IUU fishing by fishermen and ship owners in Quang Tien ward has achieved positive results. In recent months, there have been no fishing vessels violating regulations, the fishing community has operated effectively, exploited sustainably, contributing to increasing the income of local workers.
According to statistics from the Department of Fisheries, as of August 2024, Thanh Hoa province had 6,116 fishing vessels; of which, 764 fishing vessels were from 12m to under 15m in length, 1,095 fishing vessels were from 15m or more in length, and the rest were coastal fishing vessels. Although the authorities and local governments have propagated, mobilized and strictly and thoroughly reviewed and handled them, there are still 90 "3 no" and "2 no" fishing vessels; the awareness of compliance with regulations of a part of fishermen is not high. Since the beginning of 2024, the functional forces in the province have concentrated their forces, established patrol, inspection and control teams at sea, at estuaries, at fishing ports and cases detected through the fishing vessel monitoring system, detected and recorded 95 violations, with a total fine of more than 1,021 billion VND. Violations related to voyage monitoring equipment, ship owners' failure to notify the fishing port management organization of the required information before entering the port as prescribed; expired fishing vessel safety certificates, failure to write the fishing vessel registration number or writing the fishing vessel registration number incorrectly; failure to purchase crew insurance for less than 3 crew members working on the fishing vessel; captains without certificates; crew members not listed in the directory... Mr. Tran Van Duc, Head of the Fisheries Inspection and Control Team at Lach Bang Fishing Port (Nghi Son town) assessed that the agency's increased penalties for IUU violations were highly appreciated by public opinion, but in general, the level of fines in cash has not yet had a deterrent effect, and stronger measures are needed to minimize and completely prevent IUU violations.
Recently, the Supreme People's Court issued Resolution No. 04/2024/NQ-HDTP "Guiding the application of a number of provisions of the Penal Code on criminal prosecution for acts related to illegal exploitation, trading and transportation of aquatic products". The Resolution is expected to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles, ensure correct and consistent application of the provisions of the Penal Code, contributing to removing the "yellow card" warning, not affecting the development of the fisheries industry and the livelihoods of coastal fishermen.
To effectively implement Resolution No. 04 of the Supreme People's Court, the Government has launched a peak period of law enforcement and handling of violations against IUU fishing from the central to local levels to create strong changes. Therefore, Thanh Hoa province has been mobilizing the participation of relevant departments, branches, localities and functional forces with the highest determination for the goal of joining hands with the whole country to remove the "yellow card", towards a sustainable seafood exploitation industry.
Article and photos: Le Hoa
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/xu-ly-nghiem-nhung-truong-hop-vi-pham-chong-khai-thac-iuu-224173.htm
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