A warning from the EC's "Yellow Card".

BTO - The IUU "yellow card" will not be lifted if Vietnam continues to engage in illegal fishing, especially by fishing vessels violating foreign waters. This is a firm statement from the European Commission. Therefore, before the EC delegation's fifth inspection in October, Binh Thuan and the other 27 coastal provinces and cities have been diligently implementing various measures to make fishermen understand that "stealing fish means losing everything."

Rapid response teams were established.

As one of the localities with a large number of offshore fishing vessels in the province, with 678 out of 1,954 fishing boats, and also a "hot spot" for numerous incidents of fishing boats and fishermen violating foreign waters, La Gi town has implemented many strict measures to curb this situation. At its peak in 2022, the town experienced 3 incidents involving 4 fishing boats and 24 laborers being detained by Malaysian forces. In response to this situation, the Phuoc Loc Ward Border Guard Station came up with the initiative of "being close to the people, being on the ground" to monitor the situation. Using a list of 47 vessels at risk of violating foreign waters, the Phuoc Loc Ward Border Guard Station established a rapid response team and decisively intensified control and management of these fishing boats from shore to sea.

The La Gi Border Guard checkpoint is processing departure procedures for fishermen.

Previously, the Phuoc Loc Border Guard Station assigned tasks to each officer and soldier to increase the frequency of patrols and strictly control the seaport, promptly gathering complete information about fishing vessels to detect, prevent, and handle violations from the outset, ensuring that local fishermen's vessels do not violate foreign waters. In addition, they actively coordinated with local authorities and relevant agencies to review and compile a list of fishing vessels and fishermen frequently anchored and operating outside the province that pose a high risk, in order to place them under special management and monitoring.

Authorities regularly coordinate patrols and inspections at sea.

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Anh Tuan, Commander of Phuoc Loc Border Guard Station, said: “After numerous incidents of fishing vessels and fishermen encroaching on foreign waters in the area, at the end of 2022, the unit assigned each officer and soldier to be in charge of 2-3 fishing vessels and proactively planned propaganda, management, and supervision, as well as being directly responsible to the unit commander if these vessels violated regulations. Thanks to close monitoring and gathering information from the grassroots, this rapid response team promptly detected suspicious cases to proactively prevent them. In addition, through the fishing vessel tracking system, each Party member and soldier also quickly coordinated with local authorities and village/neighborhood officials to gather information when a fishing vessel loses connection for more than 6 hours or crosses the maritime boundary, contacting the family to promptly prevent any individuals showing signs of violating regulations from an early stage and from afar.”

Authorities visited each fisherman's family to encourage them to sign a commitment not to violate foreign waters (archive photo).

Overcoming temptation: easy or difficult?

It's clear that most illegal fishing incidents stem from the belief that the waters of neighboring countries have more fish than their own, and that a successful operation would yield a huge profit. This temptation has led many fishermen to repeatedly cross the border to "steal fish." With the southern fishing season in full swing, most boats in the province are heading out to sea to fish. Having learned that fisherman Tran Van T. had just returned from fishing, soldier Pham Ho Hau of the Phuoc Loc Border Guard Post took us to Mr. T.'s house (Ward 8 – Phuoc Hoi Ward – La Gi Town) – one of the three boat owners arrested by Malaysian forces for illegally fishing in their country in 2022.

Fishing vessels that illegally exploit resources in foreign waters will be burned or sunk by the authorities of the foreign country (photo: N. Lân).

During our conversation, Mr. T. candidly recounted: “In 2022, it was the fourth time I was arrested by foreign authorities for ‘fish theft.’ The previous times were in 2007, 2017, and 2019. Each time I was caught, they confiscated my property, destroyed my boat, and imprisoned the captain and crew for 3-5 months. After each release, I lost everything, suffering billions of dong in losses just because of those moments when I couldn’t resist the temptation of fishing in the waters on the other side… All the savings from previous fishing trips vanished like foam on the waves, so when I returned, I didn’t know what to do. After more than 40 years of working in the fishing industry, partly due to family burdens, in early 2023 I borrowed from the bank and everywhere else to buy a new 16-meter boat, and continued fishing in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands waters.”

After four illegal fishing trips in foreign waters, Mr. T. lost everything, suffering billions of dong in losses and also facing imprisonment.

Mr. T. is currently on the local authorities' special monitoring list and is regularly met with by border guards for propaganda and persuasion. During our conversations, I heard the soldiers affectionately call him "Father T.", treating him like family after several visits to his home. Regularly participating in training sessions and regulations on fisheries exploitation, Mr. T. understands that violating fishing regulations in foreign waters not only harms himself but also damages the reputation of Vietnamese seafood products and the national image. "From my own bitter experience, during coffee and afternoon tea sessions with my fellow fishermen, I always advise everyone not to go astray, not to be greedy for short-term gains that will tarnish their reputation for life. Now, according to the new regulations, violating foreign waters not only results in property confiscation and fines of billions of dong, but also prison sentences of up to 3 years…," Mr. T. shared. Having a firm grasp of the regulations, as well as enduring months of solitude in a foreign land, Mr. T. has learned his lesson and dares not cross the border again, even though his five fishing trips since the beginning of the year have all been unprofitable. With his experience, hopefully fisherman T. will be an effective advocate, making other boat owners and captains who are considering "stealing fish" hesitate.

Border guards regularly meet with fishermen to disseminate information, gather intelligence, and promptly identify suspicious cases in order to proactively prevent them.

From La Gi, other localities such as Phu Quy and Tuy Phong districts also implemented decisive measures, establishing rapid response teams that combined propaganda, mobilization, and commitment signing; while also mobilizing the entire political system to assign officials, soldiers, and Party members in the area to monitor and supervise, promptly preventing fishing vessels from violating foreign waters. As a result, apart from the incident involving one fishing vessel (from Ham Tan district) that was seized by Malaysia in early 2023 (the province imposed an administrative fine of 900 million VND on the vessel owner), no further violations of foreign waters by fishing vessels have occurred to date.

The Border Guard Force in the coastal region is requested to coordinate with relevant forces to organize a high-intensity campaign from now until September 30, 2024, to control 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports and temporary wharves; resolutely preventing fishing vessels that do not meet the conditions for fishing from leaving ports to engage in fishing activities at sea, without leniency, without forbidden areas, and without exceptions. If any fishing vessel is found to be illegally operating in foreign waters, the head of the relevant agency, unit, and locality will be held responsible before the Provincial People's Committee.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai emphasized this point at the IUU Steering Committee meetings.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/chong-khai-thac-iuu-truc-dot-sat-hach-quan-trong-cuoi-cung-bai-2-loi-canh-tinh-tu-the-vang-ec-123454.html