Binh Dinh ramps up fight against IUU fishing

The fishing fleet of local fishermen docks at Dong Hai Fishing Port in Phan Rang–Thap Cham city, Binh Dinh province. (Photo: VNA)

Chairman of the Binh Dinh provincial People’s Committee Pham Anh Tuan has directed departments and local authorities to ramp up the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, particularly in the lead-up to the fifth inspection by the European Commission (EC).

Tuan instructed the Department of Agriculture and Environment to coordinate with localities in reviewing and compiling lists of ineligible fishing vessels that are currently anchored or operating in other provinces. These lists will be forwarded to relevant provincial Departments of Agriculture and Environment to facilitate coordination and prevent these vessels from engaging in fishing activities.

The department, in collaboration with the border guard, police, and local authorities, is tasked with promptly establishing three specialised task forces to carry out patrols, inspections, and enforcement at the province’s three fishing ports. These teams will handle violations involving unqualified fishing vessels and strictly enforce legal penalties.

The provincial border posts and checkpoints are requested to strictly inspect 100% of vessels entering and exiting stations, prohibiting those without the necessary qualifications from departing. Violators will be handled in accordance with the law, and units will be held accountable before the provincial People’s Committee if they allow vessels lacking proper documentation to set sail. Monitoring of vessel tracking systems must also be tightened, ensuring that 100% of fishing vessels 15m or longer have active tracking signals before departure. All vessels flagged for breaching maritime boundaries must be investigated and penalised.

The provincial police, in coordination with district- and municipal-level People’s Committees, are monitoring high-risk individuals suspected of brokering or facilitating illegal vessel and crew movements into foreign waters. Joint efforts with maritime law enforcement agencies are being intensified to supervise these individuals closely and prevent violations from the outset.

Local People’s Committees are responsible for guiding vessel owners in de-registering boats that are damaged or sold/transferred to other localities. Ineligible vessels must be gathered and anchored at designated locations. Authorities must also monitor and manage the exact anchoring positions of each vessel and ensure that vessel owners do not store fishing gear or equipment onboard.

Specifficaly, the Phu My district authority has been instructed to urgently review the list of 17 fishing vessels over 15m in length that have not yet installed vessel monitoring systems, and to determine their exact operational status and current anchoring locations.

Binh Dinh province now has 3,620 fishing vessels with valid inspection certificates and 433 with expired ones. A total of 5,266 vessels hold valid fishing licences, while 711 have expired licences.

From October 2023 to May 2024, 10 local fishing vessels were detained by foreign. Notably, all 10 vessels operated outside the province and had not returned to their registered localities for years.

Since June 2024, following awareness campaigns encouraging the installation of vessel monitoring systems, no vessels have been detained. In the same period, local authorities have imposed administrative fines for IUU fishing violations on 147 cases, amounting to over 11 billion VND (over 426,000 USD)./.