Positive changes in combating IUU fishing: [Part 1] Absolutely do not cross the line

Raising awareness of fishermen

Mr. Ngo Van Cu, captain of fishing boat BV 94666-TS at Incomap port (Vung Tau city), said that his boat always complies with regulations against IUU fishing. Specifically, Mr. Cu absolutely does not go beyond the fishing boundary to foreign waters, turns on the voyage monitoring device (VMS) 24/7, and records a full fishing log...

“When the weather is bad and the local cruise monitoring device signal is lost, I always notify the mainland authorities to coordinate timely repairs. The fishing log also records everything from the coordinates of the net drop and retrieval to the quantity and species caught…”, Mr. Cu said.

Similarly, Mr. Tran Binh Son, a fishing boat owner in Phuoc Tinh commune (Long Dat district), always carefully checks all machinery on the boat before leaving port, especially the VMS.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province directed that 100% of fishing boats must have sufficient documents according to regulations before being allowed to go offshore. Photo: Le Binh .

According to Mr. Son, the weather in recent years has been quite extreme, with big waves, strong winds, and storms, so the machines can easily lose signal and get damaged. “Therefore, I have to carefully check all types of machinery to see if they are still in good condition so that I can make timely adjustments, ensuring a smooth sea trip with few connection losses to avoid violations against IUU fishing,” said Mr. Son.

In Phuoc Tinh commune (Long Dat district), thanks to increased communication and support for fishermen to overcome and handle IUU violations, fishermen's awareness of compliance has changed positively. Fishermen better comply with regulations on fishing the right species, in the right fishing area, not fishing in foreign waters and keeping full fishing logs.

The Commune People's Committee has established 3 commune-level propaganda teams and 9 teams in 9 hamlets. The Phuoc Tinh Commune People's Committee has also built a zalo group with the participation of fishing boat owners, captains, and leaders of functional agencies and border guards. Thanks to that, information about new legal regulations is quickly disseminated, fishermen can also help each other when there are accidents and quickly handle IUU violations.

Mr. Le Nhat, a fishing boat owner in Phuoc Loi hamlet, Phuoc Tinh commune, said that at the end of last year, his boat lost the VMS connection signal due to the weather. “The local authorities informed me and I promptly contacted the captain to fix it after only 1 hour. After that, the commune officials instructed me to use the app to send a report that the boat had reconnected to the provincial Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control so that I would not be fined. They were very enthusiastic and professional,” said Mr. Nhat.

In addition, Long Dat district and Vung Tau city regularly organize coffee and breakfast sessions with fishermen, digital transformation training sessions in declaring import and export information, electronic declaration of exploitation logs, overcoming connection loss, etc.

Strictly handle IUU violations

The leaders of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province are showing their determination to combat IUU fishing, joining hands to remove the EC's "yellow card" and for the sustainable and responsible development of fisheries. Every week, the provincial leaders hold meetings chaired by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, closely monitoring the progress of anti-IUU fishing implementation of each department, agency, branch and locality.

Law enforcement forces, departments, branches and localities of Ba Ria - Vung Tau regularly inspect the implementation of regulations against IUU fishing at fishing ports. Photo: Tran Phi .

The provincial People's Committee has signed a regulation to coordinate with law enforcement forces at sea to closely monitor and control the activities of fishing fleets at sea. At the same time, the forces promptly prevent fishing vessels from crossing the border and fishing in foreign waters.

According to Ms. Pham Thi Na, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, there are also two stations on shore to control fishing fleet activities, located at the Department of Fisheries and the Provincial Border Guard Command, through a 24/7 monitoring system. When detecting fishing vessels showing signs of crossing the permitted boundary, officers of these two stations will immediately notify law enforcement forces at sea to stop them.

In addition, coastal localities have established rapid response teams consisting of officers at the grassroots level, border posts/stations and other functional forces. When detecting a ship crossing the border or losing VMS connection, the Department of Agriculture and Environment directly reports to local leaders to direct this rapid response team to go directly to the ship owner's house and request the captain to immediately return to Vietnamese waters.

Localities have also stepped up the strict handling of IUU violations. According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuoc Tinh Commune (Long Dat District), the commune has coordinated with Phuoc Tinh Border Guard Station and relevant agencies to investigate and verify fishing vessels that lose connection for more than 6 hours to less than 10 hours per day, detecting 28 cases/31 vessels. Of which, 15 cases/18 fishing vessels were administratively fined with a total amount of VND582 million. The remaining 13 cases were not fined due to technical errors of the network operator or weather.

The provincial People's Committee also strictly punishes those who repeatedly lose connection. For example, the owner of a fishing boat in Phuoc Thang hamlet, Phuoc Tinh commune was fined 200 million VND because the fishing boat lost connection more than 10 times for more than 6 hours.

Recently, on February 26, a fishing boat owner in Ward 11, Vung Tau City was administratively fined up to 475 million VND due to the fishing boat repeatedly losing connection and sending VMS to another fishing boat. The captain of this fishing boat also had his practice certificate revoked for 12 months.

Staff at Tan Phuoc fishing port (Phuoc Tinh commune, Long Dat district) are instructing ship owners to register for VMS connection before going to sea. Photo: Le Binh .

Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, said that recently, the province has taken many measures to strictly manage the fishing fleet and resolutely and severely handle IUU violations. All fishing vessels that lost connection from 6 hours or more to less than 10 hours per day have been strictly handled by the province, with no further cases.

In cases of disconnection lasting more than 10 days, the provincial border guards also thoroughly handled them, with only a few cases of fishing vessels violating regulations in other provinces and cities being handled by the province. In serious cases of fishing in foreign waters or smuggling people to fish in other countries' waters discovered by the authorities, criminal prosecution and mobile trials were conducted to increase deterrence in the community.

Thanks to the decisions to strictly punish IUU violations in combination with propaganda work, the number of violations of fishing vessels losing connection has decreased significantly. If a few years ago, the whole province had more than 400 violations of fishing vessels losing connection every day, now there are less than 10 cases per day.

From 2020 to 2024, the province has detected and handled 666 administrative violations in the field of fisheries with a total fine of nearly 19 billion VND. Ba Ria - Vung Tau has also prosecuted and investigated 7 cases, of which 1 case/1 subject was tried, sentenced to 6 years in prison for the crime of bringing people across the border to foreign waters to fish illegally.

Source: https://nongnghiep.vn/chuyen-bien-tich-cuc-trong-chong-khai-thac-iuu-bai-1-tuyet-doi-khong-vuot-hanh-gioi-d745295.html