Quang Ngai (VNA) – Quang Ngai province has set November 10 as the deadline to complete the installation of the electronic catch documentation and traceability system (eCDT) on fishing boats as part of efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
At a meeting on October 27 to review the province’s IUU fishing prevention plan implementation, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Do Tam Hien called on local departments and authorities to meet the deadline and strengthen round-the-clock monitoring of fishing vessels at high risk of IUU violations.
The province has registered 4,818 fishing vessels measuring at least six metres in length in the national fisheries database (VNFishbase), with their information cross-checked against the national population database (VNeID). Vessel owners’ citizen identification numbers and telephone numbers have already been added to VNFishbase.
The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment and Border Guard Command have cleaned up vessel data in VNFishbase and the border guard’s vessel management system, including records of vessels entering and leaving ports. The provincial Sub-Department of Fisheries, Seas and Islands has updated and standardised information to ensure consistency across the national vessel management systems.
Local authorities have compiled and regularly updated lists of fishing vessels that do not meet operating requirements. Officials and units have been assigned responsibility for monitoring individual vessels at high risk of violations. Border guard checkpoints have ramped up inspections, stopping vessels that don’t meet requirements from leaving port and addressing any violations.
Hien acknowledged local efforts but pointed out shortcomings in management and enforcement, including outstanding administrative penalties, difficulties in monitoring high-risk vessels and inadequate implementation of catch traceability. He also said digital tools had not received sufficient attention.
He urged departments and local authorities to treat IUU fishing prevention as a regular task and take full responsibility for managing vessels under their jurisdiction, particularly those at high risk. The Department of Agriculture and Environment was asked to work with the Department of Science and Technology to quickly develop a tool for monitoring high-risk vessels around the clock. Temporary fish landing sites must also be established and managed.
Nguyen Quoc Huy Hoang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology, said the provincial digital transformation centre has completed a software tool to support the management of high-risk fishing vessels. The system has incorporated vessel data and will be introduced to local authorities and relevant agencies. It will allow local units to update information, consolidated for the Department of Agriculture and Environment to monitor. The software will be accessible through a central system and mobile phones.
Meanwhile, the province is accelerating the installation of vessel monitoring system (VMS) devices on fishing boats measuring at least 15 metres. Installation has reached more than 98% of eligible vessels, and the work is expected to be completed soon.
The Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Border Guard Command were also ordered to enforce administrative penalty decisions immediately and complete legal files for unresolved cases no later than the end of November. Border guards must strictly prevent unqualified vessels, including those identified as potentially high-risk, from going to sea./.
