On June 26, a Government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang inspected and worked with leaders of Ca Mau province on the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Currently, Ca Mau province has 4,148 fishing vessels, with 1,515 fishing vessels with the largest length of 15 meters or more installed with voyage monitoring equipment, marking fishing vessels according to regulations, reaching a rate of 100%. The average annual aquatic product output is about 230,000 tons. There are 05 fishing ports invested, managed and operating by the state.
Regarding the results of combating IUU fishing, Ca Mau province has updated fishing vessel data into the VN-Fishbase software and the Fishing Vessel Monitoring System, reaching 100%. Inspecting and controlling 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports at Border Control Stations and IUU Offices located at 02 designated fishing ports (Song Doc and Rach Goc); monitoring and supervising 24/7 at the Fishing Vessel Monitoring System. Since then, the situation of fishing vessels illegally exploiting foreign waters has tended to decrease.
The Government delegation and leaders of Ca Mau province listened to a report on fishing vessel management software at Song Doc Fishing Port.
The province has pioneered the application of information technology in the management and control of fishing vessels through 02 software: inter-connected management software for controlling fishing vessels, to ensure that when fishing vessels enter and exit the seaport, they must be controlled by fishing ports, IUU Offices and Border Control Stations. This software will connect all fishing ports, IUU Offices and Border Control Stations in the province, creating favorable conditions for functional forces to control fishing vessels, make statistics and reports. For the application of online Excel data tables on the Google Sheets platform, localities can report and store information on fishing vessels with expired registration and inspection, fishing vessels that have lost connection signals for 10 days or more, fishing vessels stranded on shore, etc. Thereby, creating a database for the IUU Steering Committee of the province and district to inspect and direct timely overcoming of limitations in IUU work.
At the meeting, Vice Chairman of Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee Le Van Su made recommendations to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and the working delegation on the difficulties and obstacles that the province is facing, such as the lack of investment and upgrading of fisheries infrastructure in the province to meet actual needs. Ca Mau province needs about 749 billion VND in funding to invest in a fishing port on the southern bank of the Doc River, contributing to overcoming the yellow card warning of the European Commission. Ca Mau province is currently lacking forces and equipment to patrol and control fishing vessel activities. The Government needs to continue to pay attention and provide capital support for Ca Mau province to invest in projects to prevent and combat riverbank and coastal erosion.
The working delegation of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang conducted a survey to grasp the operation of the fishing vessel monitoring system at Song Doc Fishing Port; surveyed the private fishing port of Sing Viet Company and anti-IUU activities at Song Doc Border Guard Station.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang acknowledged and commended the results that Ca Mau province has achieved in the fight against IUU fishing. In order to remove the yellow card from the European Commission inspection team in October 2023, Ca Mau province needs to be transparent in the management of fishing vessels that do not violate foreign waters; pay attention to calling for the socialization of private fishing ports according to the principle of mutual benefit. The working group will take note of the difficulties and obstacles that Ca Mau province faces and give instructions to overcome them in the coming time.
Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Quoc Viet thanked Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and central ministries and branches for inspecting IUU work in the province and raising many issues for the locality. Ca Mau province identified aquaculture and fisheries as its strengths, so it focused on directing strongly, especially not allowing fishing vessels to violate foreign waters. It is hoped that the Government will consider and remove the difficulties the province is facing in IUU work and landslide prevention projects in the province.
On the same afternoon, comrade Tran Luu Quang, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister led a working delegation to work with Kien Giang province on the implementation of the task of combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and his delegation inspected Tac Cau Fishing Port in Chau Thanh District, Kien Giang Province; and visited the lives of officials and employees of the Kien Giang Fishing Port Management Board.
Reporting to the Deputy Prime Minister, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Kien Giang province Le Quoc Anh said that the total number of registered fishing vessels in the province is 9,515, of which 4,277 are fishing vessels with a length of 6m to under 12m; 1,540 are fishing vessels with a length of 12m to under 15m and 3,698 are fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more. To date, the number of fishing vessels with installed voyage monitoring devices is 3,634/3,698 (accounting for 98.26%) of fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more; the remaining 64 fishing vessels are on shore and have not installed voyage monitoring devices (accounting for 1.74%).
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that the Government and central ministries and branches are very interested and have actively supported and guided localities to effectively implement solutions in IUU fishing and have gradually made positive changes. In the past, Kien Giang has tried to do well, so it needs to do even better.
At the end of the working session, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang presented 20 gifts to fishermen in Kien Giang province.
The Deputy Prime Minister hopes that the government and fishermen will try their best in the remaining 3 months to remove the European yellow card, thereby helping the seafood exploitation industry of Vietnam in general and Kien Giang in particular to truly develop stably, sustainably, and integrate into the general situation of the world.
Source
Comment (0)