"Go to every alley, knock on every train"

Since March 2024, Thanh Hoa province has launched a peak month to implement urgent solutions to combat IUU fishing. The focus is on good fleet management, maintaining connection with vessel monitoring devices (VMS) and good management of seafood output through ports. In addition to organizing patrols and controlling exploitation and fishing activities in fishing grounds, the authorities have also established interdisciplinary teams to coordinate with localities to "go to every alley, knock on every ship" to propagate and educate in order to create a change in awareness among fishermen, determined to soon overcome the recommendations of the European Commission (EC).

Working group of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development propagates about IUU fishing on fishermen's boats.

Exploiting seafood in the Gulf of Tonkin, but the fishing boat of Mr. Pham Ngoc Tam, number TH - 91434 - TS residing in Quang Tien ward (Sam Son city) did not maintain the GSHT signal, frequently disconnecting from the shore station. The incident of frequent loss of GSHT signal of purse seine boat TH - 91434 - TS has been monitored and assessed by the authorities as serious.

Officers and soldiers of Sam Son Border Guard Station went to people's houses to mobilize them to sign a commitment to comply with legal regulations on IUU fishing.

Therefore, the working group of Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board, functional forces and Quang Tien Ward People's Committee contacted and went to the family of ship owner Pham Ngoc Tam to notify. At the same time, propaganda was made so that relatives and family of the ship owner are aware that losing the signal to connect to the GSHT device is one of the violations of Article 35 of Decree 42/2019/ND-CP on handling violations of communication equipment, GSHT devices on fishing vessels and regulations against IUU fishing. Only when receiving the news from the family, did the fishermen on the ship know that their ship had lost connection for many days. After returning to shore, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tam's ship was administratively fined tens of millions of VND by the functional forces for not maintaining the monitoring signal while fishing at sea.

The province focuses on reviewing and checking mining logs.

Not only Mr. Tam's ship, but in 2023, in Sam Son City, there were 34 ships that did not turn on the GPS device for more than 6 months and 41 ships lost connection for 10 days. In the first days of 2024, there were 3 cases of losing connection to the GPS device for more than 10 days. The above numbers have caused alarm for the local anti-IUU fishing activities. Therefore, not only the loudspeaker system regularly announces twice a day about violations and signs of violations of anti-IUU fishing regulations, but also during the past time, the anti-IUU fishing propaganda team led by the Border Guard of Sam Son Border Guard Station, officers in charge of fisheries and leaders of the People's Committees of wards in Sam Son City also "went to every alley, knocked on every door, went to every ship" to talk about regulations on fishing at sea, and distributed propaganda documents against IUU fishing to local fishermen.

Fishermen in Ngu Loc commune (Hau Loc) were informed about the Fisheries Law and regulations on IUU fishing.

When the journey to remove the IUU "yellow card" of the province has been and is at the "golden" time, 100% of coastal localities and fishing ports of the province have also carried out propaganda activities on combating IUU fishing in a synchronous and drastic manner. In the first days of the year, when fishing boats were rushing to prepare for their voyages, officers of the Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board met with fishermen, captains and crew members to propagate and mobilize, and guide the legal regulations on aquatic exploitation, especially combating IUU fishing.

Mr. Tran Van Duc, Head of Lach Bang Fisheries Station, Head of Lach Bang Fisheries Inspection and Control Team under Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board, shared: "Because captains and crew members often fish at sea for long periods of time, only returning to the mainland during the Lunar New Year and some short periods, we have to take advantage of meeting opportunities to propagate and encourage fishermen. Through many different approaches, each officer at the port has become a propagandist to convey messages and legal regulations on combating IUU fishing to captains, ship owners as well as family members with people at sea."

In addition, closely following the EC's recommendations, the Fisheries Control Representative Offices at the three designated ports, including Lach Bang, Lach Hoi and Hoa Loc, have strengthened 100% control of fishing vessels at the port; checked entry, loading of fish and collected fishing logs and fishing reports. In addition to organizing propaganda for the fishing community about IUU regulations, local authorities in coastal areas coordinated with functional forces to deploy all ship owners and captains of offshore fishing vessels to sign a commitment not to violate foreign waters. At the same time, localities made a list of high-risk fishing vessels that regularly operated outside the province to put them under special management and monitoring.

For the goal of removing the IUU yellow card: Part 2:

Members of the Lach Hoi Fisheries Control Representative Office (Sam Son City) organized for the ship owner to sign a commitment not to violate IUU fishing.

With the encouragement and guidance of the authorities, up to now, all fishing vessel owners in the province have strictly complied with the regulations on combating IUU fishing such as: fishing vessels under 6m must be registered in the fishing vessel registration book of the commune/ward; fishing vessels 6m or longer must have a fishing vessel registration certificate, fishing license, and crew list; fishing vessels 12m or longer must be inspected, and vessels 15m or longer must be equipped with fishing vessel tracking devices. 100% of fishing vessels must contact and notify at least 1 hour before docking or leaving the port. Vehicles must operate in accordance with their registered occupation, in the area stated in the license, not use explosives or electric shocks for fishing; record and submit fishing logs.

For the goal of removing the IUU yellow card: Part 2:

Border Guard and Fisheries Surveillance forces propagate and mobilize fishermen to exploit in areas according to granted licenses.

Determining that good fleet management is not just a matter of one day or two but a task of the whole process. Along with the seriousness and responsibility of the authorities, the awareness and participation of fishermen is the key step. Certainly, there are many fishermen and ship owners who do not fully understand and comply with the implementation of anti-IUU fishing. Because in the first 3 months of 2024, the whole province still has 48 fishing vessels that have lost connection to the GSHT device for more than 10 days; 394 vessels have expired registration, 46 vessels have not been granted fishing licenses and 70 "3 no" fishing vessels. In recent days, the authorities have resolutely not allowed fishing vessels that violate the "3 no" to go to sea. At the same time, they have created favorable conditions to support procedures and legal matters for vessels to complete their documents according to regulations to go to sea as quickly as possible.

From the beginning of 2024 until now, Sam Son Border Guard Station has organized 2 mobile teams to participate in propaganda at boat moorings, to each fisherman's house, to mobilize 350 vehicles to sign a commitment to comply with regulations on fishing. The staff has developed a propaganda outline for more than 60 hours of broadcasting on the loudspeaker system of Sam Son City, Quang Xuong District and 200 hours in communes and wards. The unit also distributed more than 300 leaflets and brochures to propagate against illegal fishing to fishermen, boat owners and their families. At the same time, coordinated with the Thanh Hoa Fisheries Sub-Department to patrol and control the sea and Lach Hoi estuary for 24 trips/270 vehicles, independently patrolled and controlled 204 vehicles/1,130 workers...

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