Low salary, difficult to recruit.

At the Vietnam Fisheries Inspection Conference commemorating 10 years of accompanying fishermen, enforcing laws and protecting aquatic resources, and combating IUU fishing for a green and sustainable fisheries industry, Mr. Chau Cong Bang - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ca Mau province - made recommendations regarding the allocation of resources from the central to local levels, most notably the policy on payment for the fisheries inspection force.

Responding to Ca Mau's recommendations, Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, Director of the Fisheries Inspection Department, acknowledged: "Fisheries inspectors work very hard at sea, but their salaries and benefits are still low, both at the central and local levels. Compared to the workforce at sea, paying salaries as they are now makes it very difficult to recruit people."

Policy - Vietnam's Fisheries Surveillance Force: Low pay, difficulty recruiting personnel. — Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung - Director of the Fisheries Inspection Department.

According to Mr. Hung, the fisheries inspection force has received attention from the Party, the Government, and especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in recent years; however, there are still many difficulties and obstacles that need attention. Regarding organizational structure and staffing, both the central and local fisheries inspection agencies face many challenges in allocating sufficient civil servants, officials, and workers to deploy forces on fisheries inspection vessels.

Regarding policies and regulations, the Director of the Fisheries Inspection Department stated: "Fisheries inspectors are a force that regularly operates at sea, facing very difficult weather conditions, yet policies and regulations are still limited. We hope that in the future, appropriate policies and regulations will be implemented for both central and local fisheries inspection forces."

In addition, Mr. Hung emphasized that investments in equipment, vehicles, and headquarters for the central and local fisheries inspection forces need to be made and upgraded to ensure they can confidently carry out their assigned tasks.

"When carrying out missions at sea, in addition to equipment and vehicles, modern technologies are essential to ensure smooth command and control during operations. Satellite phone technology and satellite surveillance technology are necessary to enable seamless monitoring from the central government to local levels," Mr. Hung said.

Regarding further information on monitoring equipment, the Director of the Fisheries Inspection Department shared that the National Assembly Standing Committee has agreed to allow six types of equipment to be used for sea patrols to film and photograph, which serves as important evidence in the process of issuing fines after the fact, as well as enabling the early detection and timely handling of violations of fishing regulations at sea.

Furthermore, Mr. Hung stated that local fisheries inspection forces are currently facing difficulties regarding their authority to impose administrative penalties. This is because the Law on Handling Administrative Violations, enacted in 2020, did not include local fisheries inspection forces, and therefore their authority is not stipulated in the law.

To solve this problem, firstly, the law must be amended, and secondly, the National Assembly must pass a resolution to delegate authority to local fisheries inspectors, especially the local fisheries inspection sub-departments and the heads of local fisheries inspection teams when patrolling at sea. This will ensure that violations are handled as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Policy - Vietnam's Fisheries Surveillance Force: Low pay, difficulty recruiting personnel (Figure 2). — Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien frankly acknowledged that, despite its very important position and role, the Fisheries Inspection Department still faces limitations in terms of legal framework.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien frankly acknowledged that, despite its very important position and role, the Fisheries Inspection Department still faces limitations in terms of legal framework.

Regarding the difficulties and obstacles at the local level, Deputy Minister Tien shared: “For 10 years, we have had a fisheries inspection force, but the organizational structure, personnel, facilities, and equipment still have many limitations. Therefore, when the Prime Minister approves the fisheries inspection force's plan, and simultaneously with the national plan for protecting and exploiting aquatic resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will develop projects to strengthen the infrastructure, organizational structure, personnel, and equipment…”

At the same time, we propose infrastructure projects for the restoration and development of aquatic resources. This is a very important pillar for the sustainable development of the fisheries industry.

In the fight against IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) fishing, positive changes have occurred, but they have not yet met the requirements for the EC to lift the yellow card. We have prepared a very comprehensive system of documents, from laws to circulars, etc., however, to achieve profound and fundamental changes, the entire political system needs to be involved, with the fisheries inspection force, border guards, navy, and coast guard being the core forces.

Annually, Vietnam's fisheries production exceeds 3.8 million tons. Besides working alongside fishermen to guide them in implementing the 2017 Fisheries Law, decrees, and circulars to create a sustainable, green, and comprehensive fisheries sector …

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