Ho Chi Minh City's initiative to manage fishing vessels that are not qualified to go to sea

Ho Chi Minh City has applied many solutions: from zoning ships, monitoring the community to directly dialogue with ship owners, to prevent unqualified vessels from going to sea.

On the evening of November 11, at a working session with the Prime Minister on the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Minh Thanh reported on the measures the City is implementing to manage fishing vessels that do not meet licensing requirements, and at the same time prevent these vessels from going offshore.

Ho Chi Minh City will gather all fishing boats that do not meet licensing requirements into gathering areas and ask the public to participate in monitoring, not allowing them to leave port. Photo: Le Binh .

According to Mr. Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 286 fishing boats that are not qualified to operate. All of these boats have been zoned, gathered in localities according to each ward and commune, and divided into clusters for easy monitoring. The boats are required to dismantle equipment, machinery and fishing gear to ensure they cannot go out to sea. At the same time, the City is determined not to grant licenses to fishermen to operate without permission.

“HCMC is calling on people to join in monitoring fishing vessels under surveillance. In case the fishing vessel owner or captain decides to let the vessel leave port, we are calling on people and authorities to promptly notify the authorities so that sanctions can be imposed. HCMC’s stance is to handle the matter resolutely, without compromise and without exception,” said Mr. Thanh.

Mr. Bui Minh Thanh, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Photo: Le Binh .

For fishing vessels in this type of managed gathering, Mr. Thanh assigned departments, branches and localities to study measures to temporarily chain the vessels for easier management.

One of the prominent initiatives is the “morning coffee with fishermen” and “breakfast with fishermen” models, which are organized by localities to directly dialogue between the government and the boat owners. In these programs, the government and law enforcement will disseminate regulations, update the status of the boats and grasp the needs of the fishermen.

Since the beginning of the year, the City has organized nearly 60 dialogue programs in coastal communes and wards. Fishing boat owners who do not regularly participate have also been included in the key monitoring list, thanks to which the management and prevention of violations have been highly effective.

The results show that recently, Ho Chi Minh City has no longer recorded ships losing connection or leaving the anchorage without permission, a rare situation in many years. The only violation case has docked in Lam Dong , Ho Chi Minh City has sent a document to coordinate with this locality to handle according to regulations. Ho Chi Minh City is also waiting for the Court to judge the other two violations.

“For the group of ships that are no longer in use but are still kept as souvenirs, Ho Chi Minh City has made a commitment record and continued to put them on the management list to avoid the risk of re-offending,” said Mr. Bui Minh Thanh.

The Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee emphasized that the City's management method is a combination of deterrence, mobilization and technical supervision, both preventing unqualified fishing vessels from going to sea and raising fishermen's awareness of compliance. This is an effective management model, combining government, technology and community, actively contributing to the effort to combat IUU fishing in the area.

Ho Chi Minh City is making efforts with the whole country to completely resolve the existing problems according to the EC's recommendations in order to soon remove the IUU "yellow card". Photo: Duc Dinh .

At the meeting, representatives of ministries, branches and localities reported on the results of the implementation of the work to combat IUU fishing. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the efforts of the Steering Committee, ministries, branches and localities, and requested to continue to synchronously and resolutely implement solutions, closely monitor fishing vessels, not let violating vessels go to sea, and absolutely not allow unqualified vessels to operate.

In the coming time, the authorities will increase patrols, control and handle illegal fishing activities. At the same time, propaganda work to guide fishermen to fish responsibly will be promoted, contributing to protecting people's interests and soon removing the "yellow card" of the European Commission.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/sang-kien-quan-ly-tau-ca-khong-du-dieu-kien-ra-khoi-cua-tphcm-d783727.html