Tightening management of fishing vessels, determined to "remove the yellow card" for IUU

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Joining hands with the whole country to remove the "yellow card" on fisheries, Thanh Hoa province has implemented many solutions to tighten the management of fishing vessels to handle and completely resolve the existing problems in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The determination in directing, operating and enforcing the law by the province and the functional forces has created clear changes, initially removing the existing problems according to the recommendations of the European Commission (EC).

Provincial authorities patrol and control fishing boats at sea.

Resolutely implementing Directive No. 32-CT/TW (dated April 10, 2024) of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership in combating IUU fishing and sustainable development of the fisheries sector, Thanh Hoa province has strengthened inspection and control of fishing activities at sea. In particular, the focus is on organizing management, reviewing and cleaning fishing vessel data on the national fisheries database system Vnfishbase; developing regulations on cross-checking and cleaning data to serve the identification of fishing vessels; reviewing and making lists of vessels with expired and soon-to-expire administrative procedures...

Accordingly, from the beginning of 2025 until now, Thanh Hoa province has simultaneously launched inspections, controls, and handles violations in aquatic exploitation in the province's waters. The Department of Agriculture and Environment, in coordination with the border guards, fisheries inspectors, and coastal localities, has organized 3 inspections against IUU fishing. Of which, there is 1 coordination working session with the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Nam Dinh and Thai Binh provinces on the management, inspection, supervision, and handling of fishing vessels of Thanh Hoa province with high risk of violating IUU fishing that frequently dock in the waters of Thai Binh and Nam Dinh. At the same time, coordinate with functional forces of neighboring provinces to handle fishing vessels violating IUU, especially violations of losing connection with the voyage monitoring device (GSHT), exceeding the permitted boundaries when operating at sea.

Along with that, the Thanh Hoa Department of Sea, Islands and Fisheries coordinated with the Provincial Border Guard Command (now the Border Guard Command under the Provincial Military Command), the Representative Office of Thanh Hoa Fisheries Inspection and Control to organize an interdisciplinary team to conduct patrols, inspections and controls in the coastal waters and offshore waters of Thanh Hoa province. The team inspected 15 vehicles, made records and administratively fined 3 vehicles with a total amount of nearly 21 million VND for the acts of "Possessing electric shock tools; not having a certificate for captain, chief engineer of fishing vessels".

In addition, the provincial forces also promote information, propaganda and training for officials and fishermen in coastal districts, towns and cities on the Fisheries Law and regulations on combating IUU fishing, updating knowledge on ensuring food safety, aquaculture and protecting aquatic resources...

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of the province, as of the end of June 2025, the whole province had 6,603 fishing vessels, of which 1,062 vessels were 15m or longer. Of these, 1,056 fishing vessels had installed VMS GSHT devices; the remaining 6 vessels did not have GSHT devices (including 4 vessels on shore and 2 vessels purchased from other provinces waiting for name change procedures). At the same time, the province has made a list of fishing vessels with 2,663/497 fishing vessels that lost signal at sea for more than 6 hours and lost GSHT connection at sea for 10 days to contact and investigate to clarify the cause.

Through regular inspection and supervision by the provincial authorities, there have been 79 cases/79 vehicles of the province violating regulations on combating IUU fishing and the Fisheries Law, with administrative fines of more than VND 880 million.

Thanh Hoa province has a long coastline with many river mouths and estuaries leading to the sea, which is both a potential and a big challenge for the authorities in inspecting, monitoring, managing and tracing vessels when there are violations. In addition, the implementation of solutions to combat IUU fishing in the province still has some limitations, such as: some ship owners/captains have not proactively extended paperwork when due; the situation of fishing vessels losing connection to GSHT at sea for 10 days still occurs; the eCDT VN system does not have complete information about fishing vessels, names of aquatic species, and is not connected to online public services; infrastructure of fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels has not been upgraded in a timely manner, is not synchronous, and does not meet the EC's conditions on traceability of exploited aquatic products and combating IUU fishing...

At the online conference to deploy solutions to combat IUU fishing held in mid-June 2025, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of the province Nguyen Duc Cuong emphasized: In addition to strictly controlling fishing vessels in operation, the agricultural sector also coordinates with localities to investigate, verify, and establish digital records for fishing vessels at high risk of violations. Types of vessels monitored include: vessels that have been sold but not yet transferred, vessels on shore, vessels with expired licenses, expired registrations, and lost VMS connection... Regarding the work of combating IUU fishing, Thanh Hoa is not only determined but also takes substantial action to "remove the yellow card" by making efforts to tighten management from the mainland to the offshore area, ensuring that 100% of fishing vessels operating at sea are monitored through the VMS system and dock to unload output in accordance with regulations.

Article and photos: Le Hoa

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/siet-chat-quan-ly-tau-ca-quyet-tam-go-the-vang-iuu-253558.htm