This afternoon, September 18, a working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) inspected the work of combating IUU fishing in Quang Tri. Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing, worked with the delegation.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien and Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong inspected the work of combating IUU fishing at Cua Viet Market Fishing Port - Photo: LA

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total number of fishing vessels in the province to date is 2,648, with a total capacity of more than 147,900 CV. Of which, fishing vessels with a length of less than 6 m are 1,872; fishing vessels with a length of 6 m or more are 776. Regarding the "3 no" fishing vessels (not registered, not inspected and not having a fishing license), after checking and reviewing, there were 346 vessels, to date, 241 vessels have been granted registration, reaching a rate of 69.65%.

Fishing licenses have been granted to 483/776 fishing vessels, accounting for 62.24%; fishing vessels have been marked for 755/776, accounting for 97.29%. Data has been updated on the VnFishbase registration field for 671/776 vessels, accounting for 86.47%; VnFishbase licenses for 579/776 vessels, accounting for 74.61%; VnFishbase inspections for 279/297 vessels, accounting for 93.93%. 177/188 fishing vessels have been granted food safety certificates, accounting for 94.21%, and 2/3 of fishing ports have been granted food safety certificates, accounting for 66.7%.

Regarding monitoring, supervision and control of fishing vessel activities, up to now, no Quang Tri fishing vessels have been arrested for illegally exploiting seafood in foreign waters. The number of fishing vessels that have installed voyage monitoring equipment (VMS) is 186/188, reaching a rate of 98.94%. In the period from May 19 to now, there has been 1 time/1 fishing vessel that has crossed the boundary of the permitted fishing area at sea; 144 times/82 fishing vessels have lost connection from 6 hours to less than 10 days; no fishing vessel has lost connection for more than 10 days at sea.

Regarding monitoring output, confirmation, certification and traceability of exploited aquatic products, in the first 9 months of 2024, fishing ports collected 4,868 logbooks/4,868 fishing vessels arriving at ports, reaching a rate of 100%.

Monitoring of the output of exploited aquatic products unloaded through the port reached 100%, the rate of monitoring of the output of exploited aquatic products through the port compared to the output of exploited aquatic products in the province reached 8,994.7/22,200 tons, reaching 40.51%. The rate of ship owners/captains using declarations on the electronic traceability software system of exploited aquatic products (eCDT) at fishing ports reached from 45.6% - 93.1% for exporting fishing vessels, from 40.6% - 86.8% for importing fishing vessels.

Regarding law enforcement and administrative violation handling, in the first 9 months of 2024, the forces organized 26 patrols, inspected 149 vessels, and sanctioned 46 violations with a total fine of more than 328 million VND. Of which, 8/8 fishing vessels were fined for losing connection, reporting their location to the Fisheries Department incompletely and not in accordance with regulations with a fine of 160 million VND.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien speaks at the meeting - Photo: LA

At the meeting, members of the working group also pointed out many shortcomings and limitations in the fight against IUU fishing in the province such as: the traceability of aquatic products is not specific; no penalties have been imposed on fishing vessels that have lost connection for more than 6 hours while the penalty for VMS violations is a very important content in the fight against IUU fishing. There are many similar fishing logs; there are fishing vessels going to sea but having no output. The Con Co Island Marine Reserve has very little activity, mainly operating only in the strictly protected sub-zone.

Speaking at the meeting, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong requested members of the Provincial Steering Committee for Combating IUU Fishing to focus on overcoming the shortcomings and limitations pointed out by the working delegation.

The province pledges to continue to vigorously implement the fight against IUU fishing to work with the whole country to remove the European Commission's "yellow card" on Vietnamese seafood products. Assign and assign specific responsibilities to each sector and locality to effectively implement the fight against IUU fishing.

At the same time, it is recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider allocating medium-term public investment funds for the period 2026 - 2030 so that the province can soon invest in upgrading and completing the infrastructure system of fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing boats in the province.

Concluding the working session, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien requested Quang Tri province to be more drastic in the fight against IUU fishing. Urgently complete the registration of "3 no" fishing vessels; strictly manage fishing vessels entering ports, exploited aquatic product output, and not use formalities in tracing the origin of exploited aquatic products. Overcome the situation of writing fishing diaries in a perfunctory manner, many similar diaries, and "memoir"-like diaries.

Strictly implement fleet monitoring; strictly handle fishing vessels that are disconnected for more than 6 hours, fishing vessels that fish in the wrong area, wrong route. Require the participation of the entire political system, assign responsibility to each sector, to the head of the Party committee for the work of combating IUU fishing. At the same time, Quang Tri province is requested to focus on conservation work for sustainable exploitation.

Previously, the working delegation inspected the anti-IUU fishing work at Cua Viet market fishing port and Cua Viet fishing port.

Le An