What will Nghe An do to join the whole country in removing the "yellow card" on seafood in October?

A spirit of coordinated and decisive action.

According to the schedule from the beginning of 2023, after a working visit and inspection in October 2022, the EC Commission's delegation was to continue working in Vietnam in April 2023 to re-examine some of the information and content that Vietnam had provided to lift the yellow card. However, this plan was postponed and rescheduled for October 2023. Therefore, from the beginning of 2023, the Prime Minister held online working sessions with ministries, sectors, and coastal localities. Based on that, a 100-day intensive campaign plan was issued to inspect and promptly rectify illegal fishing activities (IUU) ; and to process and publicly update violations on the system.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang chaired an online meeting on combating illegal fishing with coastal provinces and cities. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Subsequently, at meetings of the IUU Steering Committee (Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Illegal Fishing), the head of the Government requested ministries, sectors, and localities to maintain the above directive; at the same time, he requested ministries, sectors, and localities to review violation files, and if there are sufficient grounds, to prosecute owners of fishing vessels who intentionally violate IUU regulations to set an example for propaganda and mobilization; striving to have the yellow card lifted this October.

In implementing the above directive, functional forces under the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security , along with the Fisheries Surveillance Department, have intensified coordinated patrols along the coast more frequently. Through inspections, the coast guard forces have discovered that the situation of fishing vessels violating IUU regulations is still ongoing.

Border guards approach fishing vessels from other provinces at Nghi Tan fishing port to check fishing procedures and conduct awareness campaigns. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Nghe An is one of the provinces with a large fleet of offshore fishing vessels. Since the implementation of the Fisheries Law and the management of IUU fishing, several shortcomings and limitations have arisen. Therefore, following the second and third visits of the EC working group in November 2012 and October 2022, the Provincial People's Committee issued a plan to implement Prime Minister's Directive 45 on IUU fishing. Along with establishing an inter-agency team to control and process entry and exit procedures for fishermen, since 2021, the Provincial People's Committee has established an inter-agency team to regularly patrol the coast and inspect food safety at fishing ports; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has signed a coordination agreement with the Provincial Border Guard Command on inspecting and controlling fishing and exploitation activities in estuary areas...

Fishermen complete procedures to leave the harbor for offshore fishing at Lach Quen fishing port (Quynh Luu). Photo: Nguyen Hai.

As a result, fishermen, who previously objected and were annoyed by the strict monitoring of port entry and exit by authorities, have now shown a change in awareness and are more cooperative. Each time they set out to sea for fishing, they complete the necessary procedures; coastal and offshore fishing activities have become more orderly, and the use of explosives or destructive fishing methods has significantly decreased.

In addition, to support fishermen in venturing out to sea, the Fisheries Sub-Department and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have advised the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial People's Council to approve a policy to support fishermen in installing VMS equipment on vessels over 15 meters in length. Accordingly, the province has allocated approximately 20 billion VND to install over 1,000 new VMS devices (in two phases according to Resolution 01/2021 and Resolution 02/2023) and subsidize monthly subscription fees.

During inspections and working sessions with Nghe An province, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Head of the IUU Steering Committee - acknowledged Nghe An as one of the localities that actively and effectively implemented the Fisheries Law and IUU regulations. However, the Deputy Minister also noted that Nghe An, as well as other provinces, need to take decisive action and strengthen coordination with ministries, sectors, and localities to achieve effective results.

New difficulties and challenges

At the latest working session of the IUU Steering Committee Office - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with the provinces on September 28th, it was revealed that despite many efforts, the situation of fishing and exploitation in southern provinces such as Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Ba Ria - Vung Tau... remains quite complex.

A representative from the Fisheries Department stated: The difficulty in lifting the 'yellow card' lies in the EC's requirement for strict handling of violations and public disclosure of the results for the monitoring team; at the time of inspection, if even one Vietnamese fishing vessel is still illegally fishing and is caught, there is little chance of having the yellow card lifted.

The Nghe An Fisheries Inspection Force, part of the provincial inter-agency team, ordered a trawler operating in coastal waters to cease fishing operations while they addressed a violation. (Photo: Nguyen Hai)

One of the difficulties in managing fishing vessels and enforcing maritime law is that when a vessel is seized, its registration number is from one province, but in reality, it has been transferred to someone in another province, and that other province is also unaware of this.

According to the fishing quotas announced by 28 coastal provinces and cities, the whole country has issued 95,703 fishing licenses, but the data on fishing vessels managed by localities currently shows only 86,820 vessels in operation. This means that nearly 10,000 vessels have expired registration or inspection certificates, or have been transferred but have not undergone the re-registration or inspection procedures. In Nghe An, as of now, following the EC's recommendations, there are still some issues of concern, with 325 fishing vessels still having lost VMS connectivity for more than 10 days, and 27 fishing vessels violating foreign waters in the first nine months of the year.

Disseminating information and regulations on combating IUU fishing to fishermen before imposing penalties. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Mr. Tran Nhu Long, Deputy Head of the Nghe An Fisheries Department, said: Based on the situation identified at the latest meeting of the Provincial IUU Steering Committee (September 25th), the Provincial People's Committee has issued a document urging localities to reassess existing shortcomings and limitations in order to find solutions; requiring ship owners to commit to functional forces not to disconnect VMS when fishing ; not to violate foreign waters; and to review the status of fishing vessels that have not been inspected or registered...

Representatives from the People's Committees of coastal provinces also pointed out the reality that large vessels, especially those over 24 meters, often fish for extended periods, selling their catch to purchasing vessels or docking at the nearest port for sale, and do not frequently return to their localities. Vessels 15 meters or longer have not complied with the mandatory regulations to dock at designated ports, making it difficult to disseminate information, remind, and handle violations, as well as to compile statistics and track catch volumes.

In addition to imposing penalties, authorities must also handle and collect confiscated items left behind by fishing vessels in natural waters, thereby reducing accidents for fishing vessels and marine pollution. Photo: Nguyen Hai

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP), in 2022, Vietnam's seafood exports reached over $11 billion, accounting for 20% of the value of the agricultural sector's exports. If the yellow card is lifted, this figure will certainly increase. Conversely, if the yellow card is not lifted soon or a red card is issued, it will be very difficult for Vietnamese seafood to enter Europe, as 100% of seafood exports will be subject to inspection instead of the previous probabilistic inspections. This is not the final damage, because if the EC issues another yellow or red card, other major markets such as the US and Japan will also issue yellow cards to Vietnamese seafood; simultaneously, extending this to other agricultural products. The biggest loss is the decline in Vietnam's reputation as it integrates internationally without fully fulfilling its signed commitments...

Source: https://baonghean.vn/nghe-an-lam-gi-de-cung-voi-ca-nuoc-go-the-vang-thuy-san-ngay-trong-thang-10-post277803.html