Completely handle "3 no" fishing boats before October 15, 2024

That was the direction of the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Quang Tri province, Ha Sy Dong, at the meeting to evaluate the results achieved, difficulties and limitations in combating IUU fishing and deploying solutions in the coming time, which took place this morning, August 23.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong concluded the working session - Photo: LA

After nearly 7 years (since October 23, 2017) of carrying out the task of removing the EC's "yellow card" warning and more than 1 year of implementing Directive No. 30-CT/TU of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, the situation of combating IUU fishing in the province has achieved many remarkable results.

Of which, 98.94% of fishing vessels have installed voyage monitoring equipment (VMS); 69.44% of fishing vessels have been granted fishing licenses; 99.3% of fishing vessels have been marked; 100% of data has been updated on the VnFishbase software system. 100% of fishing vessels' fishing logs and records have been strictly collected and submitted by captains at fishing ports; 100% of fishing vessels have notified one hour before arriving at port.

More than 4,184 fishing vessels arriving at ports and 3,809 fishing vessels departing ports were inspected and certified for crew registers in the first 8 months of 2024; 950 fishing vessels leaving ports and 936 fishing vessels arriving at ports were inspected.

Up to now, no Quang Tri fishing boats have been arrested for illegally exploiting seafood in foreign waters, no fishing boats have crossed the permitted fishing boundary at sea, and no fishing boats have lost connection for 10 days at sea.

However, in addition to the achieved results, there are still some tasks that are slow to progress and have not met the set targets and tasks, such as the situation of fishing vessels of 15 m or more not docking at designated ports to unload products; fishing vessels of 6 m to under 15 m do not dock at ports to unload aquatic products from exploitation; 378 fishing vessels with lengths from 6 m to under 15 m, mainly concentrated in coastal waters, have not been inspected, registered and have not had an exploitation license due to non-compliance with regulations on building new fishing vessels, buying and selling fishing vessels as prescribed.

The progress of registration, inspection and licensing of fishing vessels for the above-mentioned fishing vessels is still very slow; the progress of repairing and upgrading fishing ports is still slow, affecting fishing vessels docking at the port to unload products; inspection and control work at the estuary is not strict...

To overcome limitations and effectively implement tasks to combat IUU fishing in the province, and at the same time prepare for the reception and working with the EC Inspection Delegation scheduled for October 2024, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong requested departments, branches, sectors and People's Committees of coastal districts and Con Co island district to continue to focus on mobilizing resources to synchronously deploy tasks and solutions to combat IUU fishing.

Absolutely do not be negligent or subjective; attach responsibility to leaders of Party committees, authorities at all levels and functional forces with the results of combating IUU fishing; resolutely and strictly handle organizations and individuals violating IUU fishing according to the law.

Request the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to absorb the opinions of delegates at the meeting, coordinate with relevant departments, branches, sectors and People's Committees of districts to guide the implementation of inspection, registration, licensing procedures, and resolve the 378 "3 no" fishing vessels in the province before October 15, to ensure that 100% of fishing vessels are qualified to operate at sea.

Strengthen the operation of the fishing vessel monitoring system to monitor, supervise and promptly handle and prevent fishing vessels from violating the sea areas, especially foreign sea areas.

Continue to inspect fishing vessels, monitor output at fishing ports, collect fishing logs, ensure fishing vessels 15 meters or longer must dock at designated ports to unload exploited aquatic products and confirm and certify products from exploitation.

Deploy the electronic traceability software system (eCDT). Coordinate with relevant agencies to verify and penalize 100% of violations of regulations on VMS disconnection, exceeding permitted boundaries at sea, and fishing vessels being bought, sold, or transferred without transferring ownership or changing ownership according to regulations.

Coordinate with the Provincial Border Guard Command, Provincial Police and relevant units to carry out peak patrols, inspections, controls and enforcement of fisheries laws in sea areas, estuaries and fishing ports to both propagate, mobilize and warn; and promptly prevent and handle fishing vessels violating IUU fishing.

The Provincial Border Guard Command has strengthened inspection and control to ensure that 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving the channel are strictly inspected according to regulations. Strengthen penalties for fishing vessels violating IUU fishing according to regulations, especially handling fishing vessels that lose connection to the journey monitoring device for more than 6 hours, fishing vessels that cross the sea boundary, and fishing vessels with "3 no" rules entering and leaving the channel.

Closely coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to strictly match data between fishing vessels arriving at ports, departing ports, and entering and leaving ports to have a plan to handle fishing vessels with a length of 15 m or more that do not arrive at designated ports and fishing vessels with a length of 6 to under 15 m that do not arrive at fishing ports to unload aquatic products, and do not submit logbooks/reports on aquatic exploitation.

The provincial police promptly investigated and verified information to thoroughly and strictly handle violations of VMS regulations, especially cases of fishing vessels sending VMS devices on other vessels; investigated and strictly handled organizations and individuals who deliberately sent fishing vessels to illegally exploit foreign waters.

For the People's Committees of coastal districts, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong requested to focus resources on overcoming shortcomings and limitations and effectively deploy solutions in the fight against IUU fishing; not allowing new fishing vessels to be built, converted and traded in other provinces without written approval from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure that no more "3 no" fishing vessels arise outside the list of "3 no" fishing vessels announced by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 1263/QD-UBND dated May 28, 2024.

There is a plan to monitor and manage 2 fishing vessels that have not installed voyage monitoring equipment (Vinh Linh district), 7 fishing vessels with a length of 15 m or more that have not been granted a fishing license (Gio Linh district: 3 vessels, Trieu Phong: 1 vessel, Vinh Linh: 3 vessels), 6 fishing vessels that have not been granted a food safety certificate (Vinh Linh district: 3 vessels, Gio Linh district: 3 vessels).

Guide spontaneous shipbuilding facilities operating in the area to complete documents and submit them to competent authorities to issue certificates of eligibility to build new or convert fishing vessels according to regulations.

Le An

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/xu-ly-dut-diem-tau-ca-3-khong-truoc-ngay-15-10-2024-187828.htm