Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development works with Quang Ninh on combating IUU fishing

On August 22, the working delegation of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) led by Mr. Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of MARD , Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on IUU, Head of the IUU Steering Committee of the MARD, worked with the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province on the results of implementing solutions to prevent and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) in the province. Working with the delegation were Mr. Vu Van Dien, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and leaders of relevant departments and branches.

Comrade Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on IUU, Head of the IUU Steering Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development concluded at the working session.

Immediately after receiving the directions of the Secretariat, the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee issued a directive document and a Plan of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee on strengthening the Party's leadership in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector to direct the Provincial People's Committee, relevant departments, branches, localities, and organizations to thoroughly grasp and seriously implement the directions of the Secretariat effectively and efficiently.

From 2017 to present, Quang Ninh province has not had any fishing vessels violating foreign waters being arrested or handled. 100% of fishing vessels in the province have had their data updated on the VNFISHBASE system as directed since May 2024. From the beginning of 2024 to present, no fishing vessel has lost its signal to connect to sea monitoring for more than 10 days; 94/95 fishing vessels with a length of 24 meters or more have lost their signal to connect to sea monitoring for more than 6 hours have been verified and investigated, reaching 98.9%.

Comrade Vu Van Dien, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting.

At the meeting, delegates of the working group discussed the situation of IUU prevention in Quang Ninh and gave some opinions on the implementation of: completing the dossier for announcing the opening of the port; implementing the work of licensing fishing vessels; managing the number of arrivals and departures from the port; methods and forms of administrative sanctions in IUU prevention; the implementation of the project of anchoring and sheltering fishing vessels from storms in Co To...

Quang Ninh province will receive the opinions of the working group and will urge, inspect, and prepare a report to send to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. At the same time, propose that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development soon advise the Government to issue a Plan to implement Decision 389/QD-TTg dated May 9, 2024 approving the planning for protection and exploitation of aquatic resources for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050; issue a Circular stipulating the list of professional technical equipment and means that must be inspected, calibrated, tested, and compared before being put into use; provide instructions on the use of professional technical equipment and means in detecting violations and sanctioning administrative violations in the field of fisheries; allocate additional capital to implement the Project of Storm Shelter for Fishing Boats on Co To Island in 2024, which is 150 billion VND.

Representative of the working delegation spoke at the meeting.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien emphasized that Quang Ninh province needs to continue to mobilize all resources, join hands with coastal provinces and cities across the country to effectively combat IUU fishing, in order to remove the EC's "Yellow Card" warning in 2024. The delegation also requested that party organizations and authorities at all levels of Quang Ninh province continue to synchronously and effectively implement the direction of the Secretariat in Directive No. 32-CT/TW dated April 10, 2024 on strengthening the Party's leadership in combating IUU fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in Quang Ninh province.

The province needs to continue to promote the handling of administrative violations and information and propaganda on the regulations, legal policies, and instructions of the Central and the province on the management of exploitation and protection of aquatic resources for sustainable marine aquaculture development, in conjunction with the implementation of a number of urgent tasks and solutions to combat IUU fishing, to raise awareness of responsibilities and obligations of all organizations and people.

The province needs to strengthen inspections and checks at fishing ports and units performing the task of combating IUU fishing; review all records of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, monitor the volume of aquatic products unloaded through ports; strengthen the work of preserving and developing aquatic resources... to promptly rectify and ensure compliance with legal regulations.

The working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inspected the management of fishing vessels in Van Don district and inspected the implementation of the Storm Shelter Project in Co To district.

Reviewing ship paint colors to ensure the demarcation of coastal and offshore areas to ensure control of local fishing vessels in seafood exploitation.

Pay attention to and promote investment, upgrading, completing and promoting the effectiveness of fishing ports, storm shelters, and fishing vessel control points in the area; announce the opening of fishing ports according to the provisions of the current Fisheries Law to improve the effectiveness of controlling exploited aquatic product output and controlling fishing vessels.

Regarding the proposals of Quang Ninh province, the working group continues to research, report and make recommendations to relevant ministries and branches.

Previously, the working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inspected the management of fishing vessels in Van Don district and the implementation of the Storm Shelter Project in Co To district. Accompanying them were Mr. Nghiem Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and branches.

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