This is the directive of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang at an online meeting with 28 coastal provinces and cities on the work of combating illegal, undeclared, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) held in Kien Giang province on February 5th.
The conference focused on assessing the actual situation of IUU fishing prevention in the past and discussing solutions to enhance IUU fishing prevention efforts in preparation for the 5th inspection by the European Commission (EC) scheduled for April 2024.
Ready for the last opportunity
Initiating the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized that during the 4th inspection in October 2023, the EC inspection team assessed that Vietnam has made positive changes but there are still cases of fishing vessels violating the waters of foreign countries; inadequate control of the origin of seafood exports and fishing vessels; law enforcement, including penalties for disconnected fishing vessels, is still limited.
“The 5th inspection is the last opportunity for Vietnam to lift the ‘yellow card’ before the EU elections, so it is necessary to exert all efforts to make substantial changes in IUU fishing prevention work in order to lift the ‘yellow card’ as soon as possible,” Deputy Prime Minister stated, and emphasized that if the “yellow card” is not lifted in the near future, it may take several more years to have another opportunity to lift it, with the risk of being penalized with a red card and restricted in exporting seafood to other important markets.
The conference focused on assessing the actual situation of IUU fishing prevention in the past, discussing solutions to enhance IUU fishing prevention efforts. Photo: VGP/Hai Minh
At the conference, localities reported on the current situation, solutions for handling “3 no” fishing vessels, disconnected vessels, handling violations, and assigning sea areas to fishermen.
Kien Giang province proposed that in the first quarter of 2024, localities should collectively take determined actions to investigate and prosecute IUU fishing violations to enhance deterrence.
The ministries and sectors updated the situation and coordinated with foreign agencies in sharing information on cases of foreign waters violations; investigating and handling intermediaries and organizations involved in illegal migration, and using prohibited explosive materials in fishing activities in foreign waters.
Concentrate efforts, open the “peak of the peak” phase to lift IUU “yellow card”
In his concluding remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang praised and highly evaluated the positive results achieved by ministries, sectors, and localities in IUU fishing prevention work in the past.
Deputy Prime Minister particularly appreciated Kien Giang province for accomplishing many impactful tasks, becoming the first locality in the country to prosecute intermediaries and connect fishing vessels and fishermen for illegal fishing in foreign waters.
The online meeting was organized with 28 coastal provinces and cities. Photo: VGP/Hai Minh
Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that there is very little time left, about 3 months until the EC inspection team visits Vietnam. Therefore, it is necessary to concentrate efforts and open the “peak of the peak” phase with the highest goal of lifting the “yellow card” after the upcoming 5th inspection, focusing on 2 tasks: preventing fishing vessels from being caught in foreign waters; strictly handling all violations without exception, including organizing and intermediating illegal outbound migration and using prohibited explosives in fishing activities.
Localities should carefully study and apply current regulations to handle IUU fishing violations. For localities with similar cases as Kien Giang, they should boldly take action. The Ministry of Public Security has sent the case file mentioned above of Kien Giang province to the police of all coastal provinces and cities for study, reference, and implementation.
Four localities with a large fleet of vessels, including Kien Giang, Binh Dinh, Ben Tre, and Ca Mau, should focus on promptly handling disconnected vessels in accordance with existing regulations. Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged the pain caused by this measure.
“It is expected that in February, the Party Central Committee will issue an Instruction, which specifies the responsibilities of each leader of party committees and authorities from the central to local levels in IUU fishing prevention work,” Deputy Prime Minister revealed.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will organize inspection delegations to supervise, urge, and guide localities in implementing IUU fishing prevention tasks; direct the Fisheries Surveillance Department to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in completely handling the vessels violating the regulations identified by the EC inspection team in Khanh Hoa province.
The Ministry of National Defense will direct the border forces to effectively manage and control fishing vessels entering and leaving the adjacent waters, focusing on the offshore waters of Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces.
The Ministry of Public Security will promote investigations, prosecute the organization and intermediation of illegal outbound migration, and legitimize files related to exported seafood batches; expand investigations into groups of vessels that do not return to port but use other vessels for refueling, receiving supplies, and unloading fish.
Deputy Prime Minister demanded that localities strictly implement the directives of the central government and must be more resolute, as clearly pointed out by the EC inspection team. Notably, if they are not resolute, the central government will take measures to compel localities to be resolute in the quickest time to lift the “yellow card”.
Deputy Prime Minister agreed that localities should expand the number of ports receiving fishing vessels outside of designated ports, provided that localities can effectively control the situation to reduce pressure on designated ports and facilitate fishing vessels to dock, saving costs for fishermen. Localities should regularly report the results of IUU fishing prevention work to the central government.
In addition to the above-mentioned immediate tasks, Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized the need to have long-term and fundamental solutions for sustainable development of the fisheries sector with responsibilities such as cooperating with other countries in the fishing profession to create new opportunities for fishermen; attracting foreign investment in aquaculture and seafood processing.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will develop a plan/program for sustainable fisheries exploitation, which takes into account the possibility of imposing fishing bans to protect and regenerate fishing grounds and support fishermen when implementing fishing bans.
Deputy Prime Minister noted that the upcoming propaganda work must be systematic and comprehensive, from various perspectives, not only to encourage, but also to emphasize the legal consequences of each IUU fishing violation.
