Ninh Thuan fishermen raise awareness of law compliance in fishing, overcome IUU 'yellow card'

Up to now, Ninh Thuan has no fishing vessels violating foreign waters. Regarding certification of origin of aquatic products, the locality has not had any aquatic product shipments requiring certification.

These days, fishermen in Ninh Thuan province are in the peak season of the Southern fishing season, with dozens of boats entering and leaving ports every day to unload seafood for sale. (Illustration - Photo: TX)

Ninh Thuan province has stepped up the implementation of diverse and rich propaganda measures combined with strict inspection of fishing vessel activities to create important changes in awareness and voluntary compliance with the law of vessel owners and fishermen in exploiting seafood at sea. Thereby, contributing significantly to the fisheries sector nationwide in quickly overcoming the IUU "yellow card" warning of the European Commission (EC).

Strengthening propaganda and mobilization

These days, fishermen in Ninh Thuan province are in the peak season of exploiting the Southern fish crop, every day there are dozens of boats bustling in and out of ports to unload seafood for sale.

Bringing fishing vessel NT 02119 TS with a capacity of 450CV to Dong Hai fishing port, fishermen from Khu Van Thanh (My Dong ward, Phan Rang - Thap Cham city) who regularly fish with trawl nets in offshore waters shared that the ship owner submitted fishing vessel documents and fishing logs to the fishing port office for inspection and confirmation.

The fishing logbook is carefully recorded, each fish species with specific output, and the fishing area must be clearly declared. This is a mandatory task for every fishing boat owner to do before and after each trip.

Fishermen in Van Thanh area said: “Fishermen are continuously informed and propagated by the Department of Fisheries and the Border Guard about 14 illegal fishing acts and things to pay attention to when fishing at sea, especially not to fish illegally in foreign waters. Therefore, every time we go out to sea, in addition to preparing fishing gear, ice, food, we carefully check the machinery and equipment to monitor the journey, so our family's fishing boat has never encountered any violations.”

To control fishing activities, the installation of voyage monitoring equipment is a mandatory requirement for fishing vessels operating in distant waters. Fisherman Nguyen Ngoc Quang (Dong Hai ward, Phan Rang - Thap Cham city), owner of fishing vessel NT 02095 TS, capacity 400CV shared that the installation of voyage monitoring equipment on fishing vessels helps fishermen know the fishing location so as not to pass through foreign waters. When there is a problem at sea, they can immediately notify the authorities for support.

When fishing in remote areas, fishermen travel in teams of 7-10 fishing boats to support each other in a timely manner and remind each other to strictly comply with the law when fishing at sea. Thereby, fishermen work together with the authorities to contribute to protecting the sovereignty of sea and island borders.

Directly checking the fishing records of fishermen, Mr. Nguyen Pham Luu Hien, Head of Dong Hai Fishing Port, said that one hour before the boat docks, the owner of the vehicle and the captain inform the force on duty at the port to know the time. After the boat docks, the owner of the vehicle brings up the logbook and boat book for the unit to check and coordinate with the Fisheries Sub-Department to confirm the information of the boat docked and the volume of goods.

The unit assigned a force to work 24/24 hours, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays to serve fishermen. Through inspection, most of the vehicle owners and fishermen have complied with the regulations on prevention and control of IUU fishing. During the inspection, if the vehicle is found to be unqualified, the unit will coordinate with the Fisheries Sub-Department to not allow the vehicle to leave the port and wait for the vehicle owner to complete all procedures and documents before allowing the vehicle owner to leave the port.

According to the Department of Fisheries, currently 100% of the vessels operating in the province's offshore areas have been granted fishing licenses. The rate of fishing vessels granted food safety certificates is 99.6%. The rate of fishing vessels installed with voyage monitoring devices is 99.7%; of which, 100% of fishing vessels 24 meters or longer have installed voyage monitoring devices.

Ninh Thuan currently has 8 fishing boats that have not installed voyage monitoring equipment for many reasons such as the boat owners facing financial difficulties, business losses, damage and being onshore and not operating... The Provincial People's Committee has directed sectors and localities to work specifically with the above cases, record the current anchorage location of the fishing boats and resolutely not allow them to go to sea without installing voyage monitoring equipment as prescribed.

Mr. Dang Van Tin, Head of the Ninh Thuan Province Fisheries Sub-Department, said that from 2019 to now, nearly 110 propaganda classes on combating IUU fishing have been organized with more than 6,000 captains, fishermen, and officials attending. Through propaganda, fishermen have become aware of the harmful effects of violating foreign waters.

The inspection and control of fishing vessels according to the recommendations of the European Commission (EC) has made much progress, most offshore fishing vessels strictly comply with the declaration and submission of fishing logbooks. The province has also completed 100% of the updating of fishing vessel data into the national fisheries database (VNFishbase).

Up to now, Ninh Thuan has no fishing vessels violating foreign waters. Regarding certification of origin of aquatic products, the locality has not had any aquatic product shipments requiring certification.

Focus on some key tasks and solutions

Mr. Le Huyen, Vice Chairman of Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee, said that, following the direction of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the Provincial People's Committee has issued a plan with a specific implementation roadmap assigned to departments, branches and localities for implementation.

To prevent, reduce and eliminate IUU fishing, and soon remove the EC's "yellow card" warning, Ninh Thuan focuses on a number of key tasks and solutions such as: reviewing and counting the entire number of fishing vessels, completing 100% of registration, inspection, marking of fishing vessels, issuing fishing licenses, food safety certification, installing fishing vessel monitoring equipment (VMS) according to regulations; making a list of fishing vessels not participating in fishing and vessels at high risk of violating IUU, notifying localities and competent authorities to organize monitoring and management.

At the same time, the province requested functional forces at four fishing ports (Dong Hai, Ninh Chu, My Tan, Ca Na) to coordinate with border guards to strengthen inspection and control of 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports in accordance with regulations, inspect monitoring equipment to operate continuously 24/7 from the time the fishing vessel leaves the port until it arrives at the port; organize monitoring of all exploited aquatic products unloaded at fishing ports. At the same time, check and compare information in the fishing logbook to ensure consistency with fishing vessel monitoring data. Relevant units arrange enough human resources at fishing ports to ensure inspection and control of fishing vessels and exploited aquatic products.

In the coming time, Ninh Thuan will continue to launch peak patrols, inspections, and controls with coordination between inter-sectoral and inter-provincial authorities and strictly punish IUU fishing. At the same time, organize verification and handle fishing vessels that do not maintain connection to fishing vessel monitoring devices; update the results of IUU fishing sanctions into the software to monitor and manage administrative violation handling activities in the fisheries sector.

According to Mr. Le Huyen, strictly controlled seafood exploitation will contribute to ensuring the effective and sustainable development of the fishery sector, along with implementing solutions to combat IUU fishing. Therefore, Ninh Thuan is promoting the restructuring of the fisheries sector, improving the efficiency of offshore fishing with a focus on organizing and arranging fishing activities; strengthening solutions to manage fishing activities and protect marine resources and marine ecosystems, developing fisheries in a sustainable direction; being responsible and integrating internationally.

In 2023, Ninh Thuan aims to exploit over 124,000 tons of seafood. To achieve the plan, the province continues to encourage and support owners of vessels to repair and upgrade large-capacity fishing vessels with modern marine equipment to help fishermen go offshore to exploit seafood.

At the same time, the province mobilized fishermen to form groups and teams to unite in production at sea, and to announce fishing ground and weather news so that fishermen could proactively develop plans to move fishing vessels for the most effective exploitation.

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