On December 2, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha - Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing chaired the 24th meeting of the Steering Committee, connecting online with 21 coastal provinces and cities.
According to the report at the meeting, during the week, the police brought to trial 2 cases/3 defendants for the crime of "Organizing illegal entry and exit for others" and the crime of "Obscessing or disrupting the operation of computer networks, telecommunications networks, electronic means"; 100% of fishing vessels that lost connection to the VMS, crossing the border at sea have been handled.
Regarding some shipments of swordfish exported to the EU that were warned, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment (MONRE) Phung Duc Tien said that these were shipments related to two enterprises in Khanh Hoa.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has directed the review of all records, clarified the suspicion of fraud, and coordinated with the Ministry of Finance to compare input and output data of the supply chain to serve the handling according to regulations.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized that the inspection and handling of violations in fisheries management must be substantial, transparent and have clear evidence, "checking what content, how, with photos, records, minutes, invoices for payment, revoked licenses, confiscated assets", avoiding the situation of only reporting in form,
The inspection and handling must have practical results, new records, records, and images to ensure reliability and demonstrate that Vietnam seriously implements measures to prevent and combat IUU fishing.
From now until December 15 is an important deadline to complete tasks and resolve outstanding issues related to IUU prevention and control.
Relevant ministries and branches continue to carefully inspect and evaluate data on fishing vessels in violation, especially those caught for illegal exploitation and infringement of the waters of other countries; clearly explain the difference between the data provided by Vietnam and the data of the EC, clarify objective reasons.
Localities are responsible for handling administrative violations, as well as handling criminal cases of fishing vessels detained abroad. The agencies must provide invoices, records of confiscation of assets, canceled licenses and supporting images to prove that the handling has been fully carried out.
Government leaders requested a comprehensive inspection, not only on documents but also on the field, assessing data on cases that have been prosecuted for criminal and administrative crimes.
Regarding VNFishbase, when checking facilities, it is necessary to clearly identify the system that operates as reported, described as "connected, integrated, multi-purpose, towards standards of correctness, sufficientness, cleanliness, and vitality".
If there are still shortcomings, this week, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will take the lead in reviewing, developing, perfecting regulations on data exploitation and management, reviewing and perfecting related processes.
The regulations must clearly define who is allowed to participate, who is allowed to use what functions, and the responsibility of each user. Ship owners and captains must be responsible for fishing logs, tracking routes and fishing declarations.
