There are still 134 unqualified fishing vessels
On November 21, Mr. Tran Xuan Tien - Head of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control under the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Tri said that the implementation of the task of combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has recorded many positive results.
According to Mr. Tien, the work of fleet management, sea activities control, output monitoring and handling of violations continues to be vigorously implemented, gradually meeting the requirements set by the Government and the European Commission (EC).
The whole province currently has 4,666 fishing vessels from 6m or more, 100% of which have been registered and marked according to regulations. The inspection rate reached 94.5%, the exploitation license reached 98.1%, the food safety certification reached 95.4%. Notably, the rate of ships installing voyage monitoring devices (VMS) is nearly 99%, a very high level compared to the national average.
Mr. Tien informed that there are still 134 fishing vessels that are not qualified to operate. These ships have been sealed, identified by the commune-level authorities and assigned to supervise officers, determined not to let them go to sea.
This is a strong measure to prevent the risk of IUU violations from groups of ships lacking documents or not meeting safety standards.
The monitoring of seafood output unloaded through ports reached 10.85% of the province's output, showing that the change is still low compared to requirements.
Talks related to the electronic traceability system (eCDT) reached over 73% of ships leaving and arriving at ports, reflecting the positive trend in digitalizing fisheries data.
Strictly handle violating vessels
Administrative sanctions continue to be strictly implemented. Recently, 5 more fishing vessels were fined with the amount of 236 million VND. Accumulated from 2024 to present, the whole province has handled 254 violating vessels, with an amount of more than 6.7 billion VND.
Cases of VMS outage were also thoroughly verified, achieving a processing rate of 99.71%. This is one of the key indicators that EC evaluates when considering removing the "yellow card".
Immediately after the meeting of the National Steering Committee on IUU, Quang Tri province issued a peak plan, mobilizing the entire political system to participate.
The thematic working groups will develop a roadmap to handle each group of outstanding indicators, focusing on registration - inspection, traceability, output monitoring and management of unqualified fishing vessels.
The Standing Vice Chairman of the Hoang Nam Provincial People's Committee said that removing the yellow card is not only a requirement of the EC, but also an opportunity for the Quang Tri fisheries to develop sustainably and integrate deeply with the international community. The province is committed to implementing the roadmap correctly, resolutely every day, every week.
One of the highlights is the promotion of digital transformation in fishing vessel management. Coastal Border Guard stations apply electronic procedure processing software, integrate fishing data and monitor journeys in real time. The import-export process is therefore faster and more transparent, reducing pressure on fishermen.
The coastal Border Guard stations also increased patrols and handled cases of intentional VMS outage or border crossings.
At the same time, the province proposed that the Central Government support investment in fisheries infrastructure projects, post-harvest preservation and processing facilities and upgrade the type 3 fishing port system to meet the criteria for sustainable fisheries.
