Soc Trang manages fishing vessels well at sea

STO - In order to effectively manage the number of fishing vessels operating at sea and raise awareness among those involved in the fishing industry, Soc Trang province has fully implemented the Government's programs, directives and resolutions on combating IUU fishing and the province has also issued documents and plans to direct relevant units to effectively implement the work of combating IUU fishing. Thanks to the good management and direction of this work, up to now, Soc Trang province has no fishing vessels illegally operating in foreign waters.

Báo Sóc Trăng•11/04/2025

Soc Trang has a total of 804 registered fishing vessels, of which 342 vessels are 15 meters or longer and the number of workers directly exploiting aquatic products at sea is 5,630. Although the number of large vessels of the province operating offshore is not large, it has created jobs for thousands of workers at sea and on land. Therefore, in order to maintain sustainable marine exploitation, especially contributing to removing the EC's Yellow Card, the province has issued notices, regulations, documents, decisions and plans on overcoming the EC's recommendations and combating IUU fishing in the province; at the same time, organizing meetings, direct dialogues with fishermen as well as organizing field inspections in the locality, to assess the situation, achieved results, shortcomings, limitations and causes, and propose tasks and solutions to direct, urge and inspect the implementation of combating IUU fishing.

Soc Trang has 100% of fishing vessels operating at sea equipped with journey monitoring devices. Photo: THUY LIEU

Comrade Lu Tan Hoa - Deputy Head of the Department of Fisheries of Soc Trang province said that the Department of Agriculture and Environment of the province has coordinated with relevant units to organize the management, inspection and control of 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving the port; strictly inspect and control 100% of fishing vessels operating at sea through the voyage monitoring system (VMS). Implement 24/7 supervision to monitor fishing vessels operating at sea, cases of disconnection are promptly notified to the vessel owner for timely resolution. Proactively decentralize VMS management to localities, forces to inspect and control fishing vessels in the locality, review and grasp cases of fishing vessels losing connection, staying ashore for a long time without operating, send officers to the place to determine the anchorage location, record images of the location and coordinates for storage and management.

For fishing vessels that have been on shore for a long time and have not operated, fishing vessels with expired fishing licenses, fishing vessels that have been bought and sold, transferred, or changed ownership but have not been re-registered, they should be included in the list of fishing vessels at high risk of violating IUU fishing for coordination in monitoring and management. Provide guidance and support for ship owners/captains to download the application, install and use the electronic traceability software for exploited aquatic products, register accounts for certified enterprises, confirm exploited aquatic products; confirm 100% of fishing vessels requesting to export, fishing vessels arriving at ports, issue receipts for loading and unloading aquatic products, and certificates of aquatic product origin through the electronic traceability software system for exploited aquatic products (eCDT VN).

In recent times, thanks to the attention and direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee and relevant units of the province and coastal localities, the propaganda and dissemination of the 2017 Fisheries Law and regulations related to combating IUU fishing have been carried out regularly, thereby the fishing community truly understands the law, regulations on sea and island boundaries, and the awareness of the community has changed positively. In 2025, the province will continue to propagate and train on legal regulations against IUU fishing for the fishing community and relevant organizations and individuals. Inspect and review all fishing vessels in the province, ensuring a firm grasp of the current status of the number of fishing vessels with expired registrations and expired licenses.

"Manage and control 100% of fishing vessels from other provinces operating in the province, implement a mechanism for sharing and exchanging information between relevant localities to promptly prevent and handle IUU fishing violations. Strictly implement regulations on confirmation and certification of domestically exploited aquatic products, strictly prohibit and strictly handle cases of legalizing documents. Implement strong measures to prevent fishing vessels from illegally exploiting seafood in foreign waters. Verify and strictly punish cases of violations of regulations on losing VMS connection as prescribed, exceeding permitted boundaries at sea, fishing vessels not transferring names or changing owners as prescribed...", shared Ms. Quach Thi Thanh Binh - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

THUY LIEU

Source: https://baosoctrang.org.vn/kinh-te/202504/soc-trang-quan-ly-tot-tau-ca-khai-thac-tren-bien-38e2d46/