Managing fishing vessels with electronic identification

An Giang is one of the leading localities in implementing fishing vessel identification and synchronizing data with the national population system. This solution helps improve the efficiency of fisheries management, contributing to the implementation of the European Commission (EC) recommendations on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, towards building a transparent, modern and responsible fisheries sector.

Officers of the Provincial Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance propagate and guide fishermen to update information on fishing vessels.

Completed update of fishing vessel data

An Giang province has a large fleet of more than 10,000 vessels operating over a wide area, posing many challenges for the authorities in management. In particular, the awareness of a number of fishermen is still limited; in many cases, when building ships, the prescribed procedures are not followed. Some fishing vessels are transferred but not re-registered, causing difficulties in management, especially for vessels under 12m in length.

In order to improve the effectiveness of state management of fishing vessels in a more rigorous and systematic manner, the province has piloted a fishing vessel identification model by synchronizing national fishing vessel data (VNFishbase) with national population data (VNeID). According to the Director of the Department of Fisheries - Fisheries Control of the province, Kim Hoang Thanh, to prepare for data synchronization between the two systems as soon as possible, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has reviewed, updated, and supplemented mandatory information of vessel owners such as full name, address, citizen identification number, phone number, etc. to the VNFishbase system.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment directed the Provincial Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance Department to proactively provide a list of fishing vessels with missing information to the Provincial Police, People's Committees of communes and wards to coordinate verification, work directly with ship owners, promptly supplement missing data and update the VNFishbase software. Based on the list reviewed from each locality, the Provincial Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance Department will proceed to deregister and remove from the national fishing vessel register those vessels that are damaged, stranded, sunk, no longer able to operate, or have been transferred to other localities outside the province.

As of July 18, 100% of fishing vessels have been registered, with 10,026 fishing vessels having their owners' citizen identification data updated to the VNFishbase system, ready to synchronize with VNeID. However, there are still 54 fishing vessels that do not have citizen identification numbers because the vessel owners no longer reside in the locality or are in the process of re-registration. To resolve this issue, the provincial Fisheries and Fisheries Control Sub-Department temporarily updates the citizen identification number and phone number of the heir to the system. At the same time, a notice is issued to localities, requesting vessel owners to complete their records and update information according to regulations. If the vessel owners do not comply, the Sub-Department will delete the registration, put these vessels on the high-risk list, closely monitor them, and not allow them to leave port to exploit aquatic products.

Improve management efficiency

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Le Huu Toan said that An Giang is a particularly important area in terms of national defense and security, so the identification of ships and boats will greatly contribute to the work of protecting sovereignty over seas and islands, ensuring national security, social order and safety. At the same time, this also contributes to the effective implementation of Directive No. 32-CT/TW, dated April 10, 2024 of the Central Party Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership in combating IUU fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector.

In the context of Vietnam being warned of a “yellow card” by the EC, the province’s efforts in identifying fishing vessels are considered one of the typical solutions, demonstrating the province’s high political determination in implementing the EC’s recommendations on combating IUU fishing. This is not only an effective management measure but also a commitment to building a responsible, transparent and modern fishing industry.

Integrating and synchronizing data between the two systems VNFishbase and VNeID helps improve the efficiency of state management of functional agencies. Looking up and checking information related to fishing vessels becomes faster and more convenient. Each fishing vessel is associated with the owner's identification information, thereby thoroughly handling the situation of "3 no" vessels (no registration, no inspection, no license), preventing IUU fishing from the root.

In addition, the digitization of fishing vessel data also brings many practical benefits: It helps fishermen save time because they do not have to present manual documents as before; instead, they can use integrated applications on VNeID to prove information related to fishing vessels. Mr. Truong Van Ngu - Chairman of Rach Gia Ward Fisheries Association shared: "The integrated and digitized legal documents and records related to fishing vessels make everything more convenient and the information is transparent. Fishermen feel more secure going to sea because identifying fishing vessels helps limit fraud, exchanging vessel numbers, and borrowing vessel names to violate the law."

Article and photos: THUY TRANG

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/quan-ly-tau-ca-bang-dinh-danh-dien-tu-a424872.html