Lam Dong province reported at the 26th session of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing.

On the evening of December 16th, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the 26th session of the National Steering Committee on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Also attending was Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Head of the Steering Committee. The meeting was broadcast live to 21 coastal provinces and cities.

Delegates attending from Lam Dong province.

At the Lam Dong province end of the meeting, Mr. Le Trong Yen, Standing Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, presided over the meeting, with the participation of representatives from various departments, agencies, and localities.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , in implementing the Prime Minister's directives at the 25th session of the Steering Committee, as well as previous conclusions, directives, and telegrams from the Party Central Committee and the Prime Minister, ministries and agencies have actively and decisively implemented tasks and achieved basic results.

Specifically, the Prime Minister's Directive on decisively implementing tasks and solutions to combat IUU fishing and promote sustainable development of Vietnam's fisheries sector has been finalized; inter-agency working groups have been organized to inspect and combat IUU fishing in many provinces and cities.

Comrade Le Trong Yen, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, presided over the meeting at the Lam Dong province location.

Ministries and agencies are coordinating to establish a working group to finalize reports, prepare scenarios for online technical exchanges with the European Commission (EC), and prepare the content and necessary conditions for organizing online and in-person meetings with the EC; providing localities and relevant agencies with complete information on shipments from businesses showing signs of violating IUU fishing regulations; completing the standardization of the national fisheries database to present to the EC inspection team; and are currently developing and finalizing a draft plan to be submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval.

Representatives from various sectors and localities attended the meeting.

Currently, 100% of fishing vessels from localities have registered and been updated on Vnfishbase, totaling 79,231 vessels. Vessels that do not meet operating requirements have been monitored, and their mooring locations have been managed by local communes/wards, relevant forces, and officials.

During the week, authorities inspected and monitored 3,165 fishing vessels departing from ports and 3,056 vessels arriving at ports in accordance with regulations, and tracked 8,765 tons of seafood harvested through ports using the eCDT system.

Fishing vessels that violate foreign waters, lose their vessel tracking system (VMS) connection, or exceed previously permitted fishing boundaries are dealt with severely, achieving a 99.99% success rate.

Leaders of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee reported on the situation regarding the implementation of measures to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the province over the past week.

At this meeting, at the request of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, Le Trong Yen, reported on the results of the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in Lam Dong province during the past week, from December 6th to 12th.

In the meeting, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee clearly reported on the figures for the past week as well as the cumulative figures up to the present time regarding the cancellation of registrations and issuance of fishing vessel exploitation licenses; the control of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports; statistics on fishing vessels entering and leaving ports; and the traceability of harvested seafood...

According to the Standing Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, at the Fishing Vessel Monitoring Center, the Fishing Vessel Monitoring Team (under the Fisheries and Marine Affairs Sub-Department) maintains a 24/7 duty roster to monitor fishing vessels operating at sea; no violations such as VMS disconnection or boundary crossing were detected during the week. During the week, no businesses applied for Certificates of Origin (SC); only one Certificate of Origin (CC) was issued for 697 kg of seafood.

The Standing Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee reported directly from the Lam Dong location.

The dissemination and promotion of legal knowledge continues to receive attention, be strengthened, and be implemented regularly; contributing to raising awareness and compliance with the law among fishermen and businesses. 100% of the registration, inspection, and issuance of fishing licenses for eligible fishing vessels have been completed. Simultaneously, ineligible vessels have been categorized and assigned to local authorities for close monitoring and control, preventing them from departing for fishing.

The Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee also highlighted the remaining limitations and key tasks that Lam Dong will continue to implement in the coming week in accordance with international regulations.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivered a speech at the meeting.

After leaders of ministries, sectors, and localities reported on the situation and proposed further tasks and solutions to combat IUU fishing and promote sustainable development of Vietnam's fisheries, concluding the session, Prime Minister Pham Minh highly appreciated the ministries, sectors, and localities for their active participation and significant results in combating IUU fishing.

The Prime Minister requested that agencies within the political system, based on their functions and responsibilities, actively participate in combating IUU fishing for the prestige and honor of the country, for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector, and for the benefit of each and every citizen. This includes continuing to review and improve legal regulations, ensuring that there are sufficiently strong and deterrent legal tools to decisively address IUU fishing.

The Prime Minister emphasized that monitoring and managing the activities of fishing vessels and the local population is still not as satisfactory as desired, and stated that this is the responsibility of the local authorities. Therefore, the Party Secretary and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level must demonstrate a high level of dedication and responsibility in reviewing and inspecting the management of fishing vessel activities and fishermen; ensuring that no fishing vessels or fishermen operate without the knowledge of the Party Committee and the local authorities.

Lam Dong province has completed 100% of the registration, inspection, and issuance of fishing licenses for eligible fishing vessels.

The Prime Minister also requested the Vietnam Fatherland Front, political organizations, and the people to join in condemning IUU fishing activities. Local authorities, in coordination with the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP), are responsible for taking action against businesses importing illegal seafood shipments.

The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, based on the EC's proposal, to standardize guidance for ministries, sectors, and localities in preparing reports; any incorrect content must be explained to the EC, and any correct content must be addressed promptly as required. Regarding creating livelihoods and retraining fishermen, the Prime Minister noted that currently only 7 out of 21 provinces and cities have issued policies for retraining people; therefore, the remaining provinces and cities must complete these policies within the next 5 days.

The Prime Minister also reiterated the requirement that in any locality where violations occur, the Party Secretary and the Chairman of the People's Committee of that locality must be held responsible and punished according to Party regulations.

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If any province or city allows IUU fishing violations to occur, the Steering Committee will send a document to remind the local Party committee, report to the Politburo, classify the locality as failing to fulfill its nhiệm vụ, and propose considering the responsibility of the Secretary of the Provincial or City Party Committee of that locality.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh

At the same time, directing media and press agencies to actively participate in propaganda and create consensus in public opinion to condemn IUU fishing activities, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested that each relevant entity must uphold a sense of responsibility, and that the next meeting must address the requirements set out in the previous meeting.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/lam-dong-bao-cao-tai-phien-hop-thu-26-cua-ban-chi-dao-quoc-gia-ve-chong-khai-thac-iuu-410955.html