Binh Thuan Province now owns more than 8,300 fishing vessels with a length of 6m and above, nearly 2,000 of which are offshore ones and 2,100 are coastal fishing boats.
In 2018, Binh Thuan Province was the first in Vietnam to introduce Directive No.30 related to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), particular the tasks of stopping fishermen from working illegally in international sea bodies.
Besides administrative punishments, local functional agencies have adopted additional penalties to fishing boats with IUU like withdrawing fishing licenses, removing from the list of approved offshore fishing ships, stopping support, and publicly announcing violators’ names on mass media. As a result of year after year fighting against IUU, the province can basically control fishing activities of its dwellers.
At present, Binh Thuan Province is the pioneer in eliminating ‘3-No’ fishing vessels (no fishing license, no ship registration, no ship checking), which is one key criterion for EC to remove its yellow card for the Vietnam’s fishery industry. Over 2,000 such vessels in the provinces have received their temporary registration for easy monitoring.
To aid fishermen not to enter international sea bodies without permission, the Standing Committee of the Binh Thuan Province Party Committee has sponsored a subscription fee of VND2.2 million (US$86.5) per vehicle per year for the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) for 2,000 fishing ships in the province. This sponsor lasts three years to ease the mind of fishermen when in operation.
Other practical measures have been adopted by fishermen communities and local functional agencies in Binh Thuan Province such as the model of ‘Each Border Guard Monitoring Three Fishing Vessels’ in La Gi Town, or ‘Quick Response Team’ in Phu Quy District, and ‘IUU Monitoring Team’ in Ham Thuan Nam District. These models aim as combating against IUU more effectively in order for EC to remove its yellow card for Vietnam.
Vice Chairman Nguyen Hong Hai of the Binh Thuan Province People’s Committee shared that the number of fishermen violating international sea bodies for fishing has seen a remarkable drop, yet still exists.
Therefore, during the 5th check of the EC Inspection Team, all relevant state units are asked to timely detect and stop illegal fishing activities in international sea areas. Any law-breaking cases must be strictly handled.
