According to a report by Tien Giang province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province's total number of fishing boats is 1,454/423,740kW, with 10,229 crew members directly on board. Fishing vessels with a length of more than 24 meters have 146 units/86,554kW and 1,613 crew members; fishing vessels with a length of 15 meters to less than 24 meters have 939 units/314,271kW and 7,352 crew members; and fishing vessels with a length of less than 15 meters have 369 units/22,915kW and 1,264 crew members.
VMS equipment is now installed on 964 of the 964 fishing vessels in operation in the province, bringing the total to %. There are 833 fishing vessels ranging in length from 15 meters to less than 24 meters, as well as 131 units with a length of 24 meters or more. There are still 121 fishing vessels without VMS equipment, including fishing boats docked and stopped due to disaster or fire but not yet deregistered, and ships parked at shore that have stopped working and are awaiting sale or repair.
The Fisheries Sub-Department has implemented the regulation on the management, exploitation, and use of fishing vessel monitoring data; organize on-duty to call and remind fishing vessels near the boundary as soon as possible. When a fishing vessel is detected outside of Vietnamese seas, the Sub-Department of Fisheries contacts the ship owner and captain immediately to request a return, as well as sending a written request to the People's Committee at the district level directs the commune-level People's Committee to hold a meeting to review the ship's owners and captains before the people, force them to sign a commitment not to violate them, and coordinate with relevant authorities to handle them according to regulations.
The task of certifying and certifying caught seafood complies with regulations and meets the needs of seafood exporters promptly, as evidenced by the confirmation of 66 papers weighing 935,253 tons and 75 certificates weighing 884,462 tons.
Two representative offices, fisheries inspection and control, have checked and recorded 633 fishing vessels docking and leaving port, resolutely refusing to allow ships to leave the berth for exploitation unless they fully meet the specified standards. The Fisheries Sub- Department's Specialist inspectors conducted 03 inspection and control inspections, including 02 unscheduled inspections and 01 planned inspection (independent inspector); and issued 04 decisions to sanction administrative infractions totaling 30 million VND in fines. Inspection and examination work has identified well-controlled fishing vessels from neighboring provinces which is operating in the province.
In addition, the province of Tien Giang has issued numerous documents directing the implementation of anti-IUU efforts; continue to propagate the Prime Minister's Directives and Official Letters, the Fisheries Law 2017, and documents guiding the implementation of the Fisheries Law and regulations on combating IUU fishing in the province.
Local governments have promoted 36 events with a total of 816 attendees, as well as 33 radio and television broadcasts. The Provincial Border Guard Command has provided guidance on disaster prevention and search and rescue, not violating foreign waters for 6,809 vehicles/42,509 fishermen. Border guard stations and stations have organized inspection, control, and propaganda for 14,981 vehicles/75,994 fishermen; and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued 1,200 documents of various types, as well as 02 news and articles in newspapers, e.g. As a result, the awareness of fishermen in the province towards the fight against IUU fishing has had many positive changes, fishermen have raised their awareness of law observance and have strictly complied with regulations on anti-IUU fishing. There was no record in October 2021 that the Tien Giang fishing vessel had violated international waters and been seized by foreign countries.
In order to effectively implement the fight against IUU fishing, particularly to prevent, reduce, and stop Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen from fishing illegally in foreign waters, the province's fisheries must be developed in a sustainable and effective manner, contributing to the removal of the "Yellow Card" of the European Commission (EC). In the coming time, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province will continue to well implement the guiding documents of the Standing Committee of the Secretariat, the Prime Minister, the Party Committee of Tien Giang and the People's Committee of Tien Giang province on combating IUU fishing.
Focus on propagating relevant contents for ship owners and captains to grasp about the guidelines and policies of the Vietnamese government, especially the non-violation of foreign waters in the process of fishing, as well as the sense of protecting the sovereignty of the sea; strengthen communication and dissemination to all ship owners and captains to understand the scope of Vietnam's waters, including overlapping sea areas that have not yet been demarcated.
The relevant departments and sectors must well coordination in the implementation of urgent solutions to overcome the EC's warning against IUU fishing; continue to coordinate with relevant units and localities in propagating, guiding and supporting the establishment of fishing cooperation groups in order to increase the safety and efficiency of fishing, and support each other when there is a problem, natural disasters, incidents at sea of offshore fishing fleets, etc.
Le Mai (theo tongcucthuysan.gov.vn)