A fisherman and his catch off the coast of Nam Dinh province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has been actively working to implement theEuropean Commission (EC)’s recommendations since it announced a yellow card onVietnamese fisheries on October 23 last year.
According to Vu Van Tam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,the issuance of the EC’s illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU)yellow card has gained positive results as the number of illegal fishingvessels has decreased.
The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa is one of several key provinces fortuna fishing with a large offshore fishing fleet. Being aware of the issue ofillegal fishing, the province has tried drastic solutions as well asdisseminated information among its fishermen to understand and practiseresponsible fishing.
Vo Khac En, Deputy Director of the Khanh Hoa Fisheries Sub-Department, said IUUfishing in the province was rare. However, after several cases of illegalfishing were reported recently in the adjacent areas, the sub-departmentimmediately informed the fishermen about the range and geographic coordinateswithin which fishing was permitted.
“When the fishing vessel returns to the port, the sub-department sends itsstaff to the port to get information. If the fishing vessel is found to haveviolated any norm, it will not be granted fishing permit and will not get Statepreferences. In fact, the fishing vessel will be recovered permanently if itviolates fishing norms a second time,” said En.
Quang Trong Thao, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment of Kien Giang province, said after the Prime Minister signed theofficial letter 732/CĐ-TTg on preventing, minimising and stopping Vietnamesefishing vessels and fishermen from illegally fishing in foreign seas, theprovincial People’s Committee had drastically implemented the directive.
The department has actively cooperated with Border Guards, provincial policeand local authorities to patrol and examine and handle violations to preventillegal fishing vessels and fishermen in foreign waters.
The department has also set up teams to disseminate information and raiseawareness among fishermen, in compliance with Vietnamese and foreign laws, ofexploiting marine products and not infringing upon foreign waters.
Tam said along with official letter 732, the Prime Minister also issuedInstruction 45 on urgent solutions to have the yellow card withdrawn within sixmonths (before April 23, 2018). The ministry has also proposed suggestions torevoke the yellow card.
Institutional improvement based on the newly revised Fisheries Law hasincorporated most of EC’s recommendations on IUU. These include regulations onIUU fishing activities and strict sanctions placed on ship owners and captains,with seven times higher penalty than the value of illegally exploited fisheries(individuals may be fined up to 1billion VND), regulations on the withdrawal offishing licences for individuals and organisations that illegally exploitforeign seas, regulations for non-reissuance of fishing licences toorganisations and individuals that have fishing vessels on the IUU list andthose without control equipment for fishing activities.
In addition to these, legal normative documents have also been developed tointegrate regulations in line with international rules, such as Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Code of Conduct for ResponsibleFisheries, FAO’s international plan of action against IUU, FAOAgreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU fishingand measures taken by the coastal countries to ensure that legal documents areeffective at the same time as the 2017 revised Fisheries Law, which will comeinto effect on January 1, 2019.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has promoted training for fishermen, ship owners andenterprises as well as the State management system of aquatic resourceexploitation, making them aware about the impact of yellow cards on thereputation of Vietnamese seafood.
Tam said the country continued to focus on practical implementation, includingactions of fishermen and ship owners, who must follow criteria such as notingdiary, installing equipment for controlling fishing itinerary, sending reportsto the fishing port management agency, identifying the origin of seafood tofight against IUU fishing and certificating export batches of seafood followingthe demand of the European Union and other markets.
“It is imperative that ships that are 15-24m high will have to installequipment for controlling fishing itinerary as regulated and remain open 24hours a day for inspection,” said Tam.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, Director of Directorate of Fisheries’ Scientific,Technological and International Cooperation Department, said another importantsolution was to expand international cooperation, including top-levelnegotiation with EC to review its nine recommendations, to learn from othercountries on fighting against IUU fishing.
“We need to negotiate and cooperate with other countries, such as Papua NewGuinea, Brunei and New Caledonia, on this issue and take part in internationalforums to affirm Vietnam’s efforts in combating IUU fishing,” Dung said.
Tam said the agriculture ministry’s leaders had recently visited almost all theisland countries of the Pacific region to share information and buildcooperation. “We have increased our participation in international forums toexpress the government’s view that it will never tolerate illegal fishingactivities.”-VNA
According to Vu Van Tam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,the issuance of the EC’s illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU)yellow card has gained positive results as the number of illegal fishingvessels has decreased.
The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa is one of several key provinces fortuna fishing with a large offshore fishing fleet. Being aware of the issue ofillegal fishing, the province has tried drastic solutions as well asdisseminated information among its fishermen to understand and practiseresponsible fishing.
Vo Khac En, Deputy Director of the Khanh Hoa Fisheries Sub-Department, said IUUfishing in the province was rare. However, after several cases of illegalfishing were reported recently in the adjacent areas, the sub-departmentimmediately informed the fishermen about the range and geographic coordinateswithin which fishing was permitted.
“When the fishing vessel returns to the port, the sub-department sends itsstaff to the port to get information. If the fishing vessel is found to haveviolated any norm, it will not be granted fishing permit and will not get Statepreferences. In fact, the fishing vessel will be recovered permanently if itviolates fishing norms a second time,” said En.
Quang Trong Thao, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment of Kien Giang province, said after the Prime Minister signed theofficial letter 732/CĐ-TTg on preventing, minimising and stopping Vietnamesefishing vessels and fishermen from illegally fishing in foreign seas, theprovincial People’s Committee had drastically implemented the directive.
The department has actively cooperated with Border Guards, provincial policeand local authorities to patrol and examine and handle violations to preventillegal fishing vessels and fishermen in foreign waters.
The department has also set up teams to disseminate information and raiseawareness among fishermen, in compliance with Vietnamese and foreign laws, ofexploiting marine products and not infringing upon foreign waters.
Tam said along with official letter 732, the Prime Minister also issuedInstruction 45 on urgent solutions to have the yellow card withdrawn within sixmonths (before April 23, 2018). The ministry has also proposed suggestions torevoke the yellow card.
Institutional improvement based on the newly revised Fisheries Law hasincorporated most of EC’s recommendations on IUU. These include regulations onIUU fishing activities and strict sanctions placed on ship owners and captains,with seven times higher penalty than the value of illegally exploited fisheries(individuals may be fined up to 1billion VND), regulations on the withdrawal offishing licences for individuals and organisations that illegally exploitforeign seas, regulations for non-reissuance of fishing licences toorganisations and individuals that have fishing vessels on the IUU list andthose without control equipment for fishing activities.
In addition to these, legal normative documents have also been developed tointegrate regulations in line with international rules, such as Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Code of Conduct for ResponsibleFisheries, FAO’s international plan of action against IUU, FAOAgreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU fishingand measures taken by the coastal countries to ensure that legal documents areeffective at the same time as the 2017 revised Fisheries Law, which will comeinto effect on January 1, 2019.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has promoted training for fishermen, ship owners andenterprises as well as the State management system of aquatic resourceexploitation, making them aware about the impact of yellow cards on thereputation of Vietnamese seafood.
Tam said the country continued to focus on practical implementation, includingactions of fishermen and ship owners, who must follow criteria such as notingdiary, installing equipment for controlling fishing itinerary, sending reportsto the fishing port management agency, identifying the origin of seafood tofight against IUU fishing and certificating export batches of seafood followingthe demand of the European Union and other markets.
“It is imperative that ships that are 15-24m high will have to installequipment for controlling fishing itinerary as regulated and remain open 24hours a day for inspection,” said Tam.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, Director of Directorate of Fisheries’ Scientific,Technological and International Cooperation Department, said another importantsolution was to expand international cooperation, including top-levelnegotiation with EC to review its nine recommendations, to learn from othercountries on fighting against IUU fishing.
“We need to negotiate and cooperate with other countries, such as Papua NewGuinea, Brunei and New Caledonia, on this issue and take part in internationalforums to affirm Vietnam’s efforts in combating IUU fishing,” Dung said.
Tam said the agriculture ministry’s leaders had recently visited almost all theisland countries of the Pacific region to share information and buildcooperation. “We have increased our participation in international forums toexpress the government’s view that it will never tolerate illegal fishingactivities.”-VNA
VNA
