Inspect and handle fishing vessels violating the law at sea

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai has just signed an official dispatch to the Department of Fisheries Surveillance, Navy Region 2 Command, Coast Guard Region 3 Command, Coast Guard Region 4 Command, and the People's Committees of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh , Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, and Kien Giang provinces, requesting coordination in inspecting and handling fishing vessels violating the law at sea.

Accordingly, the steel-hulled fishing vessel registered in Binh Thuan has registration number BTh-95055-TS, length 44.66m, has been equipped with a voyage monitoring device (VMS), operating in the logistics of catching aquatic resources. The owner of the vessel is Mr. Tran Ngoc Chien, Hiep Duc 2 village, Chi Cong commune, Tuy Phong district. Currently, the fishing vessel BTh-95055-TS has been leased by Mr. Tran Ngoc Chien to Mr. Mai Tuan Nho (1990), residing in Hamlet 9, Khanh An commune, U Minh district, Ca Mau province for a period of 1 year (from August 17, 2023), the lease has a notarized contract. Through initial verification, Mr. Mai Tuan Nho is no longer residing in the locality. Currently, this fishing boat mainly operates in the open sea of provinces from Ba Ria - Vung Tau to Ca Mau and does not dock locally, so it is very difficult to inspect and control the boat's activities, the risk of violating the law at sea is very high, including the possibility of violating foreign waters.

Binh Thuan fishing boats operating at sea. Photo: N.Lan

Through collecting relevant information and conducting actual inspections, this fishing vessel has a structure, layout, equipment, and specialized functions for transporting oil, but taking advantage of the name of a fishing vessel registered to operate as a logistics vessel for catching aquatic resources to buy and sell oil at sea has been committing violations of the law. Using a fishing vessel to transport goods that are not suitable for the type of goods according to regulations; buying and selling goods (DO oil) without documents proving the legality of the goods; the chief engineer does not have a certificate according to regulations; the crew member is not listed in the crew register. For these acts, the Command of Coast Guard Region 4 has imposed a total fine of 53 million VND and confiscated 274,108 liters of DO oil. In addition, the fishing license issued by the Binh Thuan Fisheries Sub-Department has expired (the issued license is valid until April 30, 2024), and the fishing vessel technical safety certificate has also expired. Through searching on Vnfishbase software, up to now, no inspection unit has inspected and renewed the technical safety certificate for this fishing vessel.

Strengthen coordination in inspecting fishing vessels operating at sea to combat IUU fishing.

In particular, the vessel was not operating in the safe sea area permitted by the registry. According to regulations, the vessel is classified as restricted category III, meaning that the vessel only operates in waters no more than 50 nautical miles from shore or shelter, but in reality, this vessel regularly operates offshore more than 100 nautical miles from shore. From February 16, 2024 to April 7, 2024, this fishing vessel lost connection to the VMS device for more than 6 hours up to 14 times. Therefore, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province is directing the Provincial Border Guard Command to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial Police, the People's Committee of Tuy Phong district and relevant agencies to review, inspect, verify and strictly handle violations by the owner of the fishing vessel BTh-95055-TS according to regulations.

In order to resolutely prevent, stop and strictly handle violations of the law in fisheries activities, especially illegal violations of foreign waters by fishing vessel BTh-95055-TS during its operations at sea, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province reports the above information and requests the Department of Fisheries Surveillance, the Navy Region 2 Command, the Coast Guard Region 3 Command, and the Coast Guard Region 4 Command to direct patrol, inspection and control forces at sea to temporarily detain and strictly handle violations according to regulations. At the same time, suspend the operation of this vessel until the owner completes the relevant procedures and documents according to regulations of law.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/kiem-tra-xu-ly-tau-ca-vi-pham-phap-luat-tren-bien-120051.html