Digitalization of fishing vessel management

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , following the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha - Head of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing, regarding the promotion of information technology application and digital transformation in fishing vessel management, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has coordinated with ministries, sectors, localities, and relevant agencies to complete the data system. Accordingly, it has implemented licensing and registration on the National Fisheries Data Management System (Vnfishbase); electronic fishing logbook (elogbook); traceability of seafood through the Seafood Traceability System (eCDT); management of fishing vessel operations at sea on the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS); and monitoring and handling of fishing vessels violating regulations on the System for handling administrative violations in the fisheries sector. Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has granted user accounts to localities and functional forces for verification and comparison. Promptly detect discrepancies, request updates, additions, corrections, and standardization of data in accordance with regulations.

Staff at Tac Cau fishing port guide fishermen through the procedures for declaring entry and exit from the port via the eCDT application. Photo: THUY TRANG

In addition to the software applications already implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of National Defence has also developed a system for managing and monitoring fishing vessels. To unify and synchronize the data system for management purposes across ministries, sectors, and localities, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha directed the Military Telecommunications and Industry Corporation (Viettel) to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Ministry of National Defence to implement data synchronization and sharing. This data linkage helps state management agencies accurately track the actual number of fishing vessels, reducing discrepancies in data and simultaneously saving fishermen time in reporting to fishing ports and border guard stations.

In An Giang province, the digitization of fishing vessel data is being implemented seriously. 100% of licensed fishing vessels have been updated on the VnFishbase system. As of January 6th, An Giang has 3,579 fishing vessels 15 meters or longer operating in the fisheries sector that have installed VMS equipment. The province has provided eCDT software accounts to 3,586 vessels.

According to Dang Van Quoi, Head of the Tac Cau Fishing Port Management Board of the Provincial Fishing Port Management Board: “Digital transformation has greatly helped us in managing fishing vessels entering and leaving the port, and facilitating the traceability of seafood. Based on data on species and seafood production entered into the eCDT software, fishing port staff can easily verify, monitor, and carry out procedures for issuing Certificates of Origin (CC), Certificates of Origin (SC), and receipts for seafood unloading for businesses and ship owners.”

Staff at Tac Cau fishing port monitor fishing vessel signals on the vessel tracking system. Photo: THUY TRANG

Initially, when fishermen were unfamiliar with using the eCDT software, the Provincial Fisheries Port Management Board assigned staff to directly guide ship captains in installing and using the software. To date, 100% of fishing vessel owners and captains declare departure and arrival procedures through the eCDT application.

In the coming period, fishermen will switch from manually recording fishing logs on paper to recording them through electronic logbook software, contributing to increased transparency regarding the origin of harvested seafood in the context of Vietnam implementing solutions to combat IUU fishing in order to lift the EC's "yellow card".

According to Le Huu Toan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, after the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issues a circular guiding the technical procedures for using the electronic fisheries exploitation log software, the agricultural sector will organize training sessions for localities, ship owners, captains, and personnel working at fishing ports to ensure the software system operates effectively and meets the requirements for state management and combating IUU fishing…

GIA BAO

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/so-hoa-quan-ly-tau-ca-a473639.html