Da Nang’s agriculture and rural development sector, relevant units, localities, and fishing communities have been carrying out many tasks and solutions to promote the removal of the yellow card warning against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) imposed by the European Commission (EC).

Many solutions have been implemented by departments, units and localities to join hands to remove the EC's "yellow card" warning. IN PHOTO: Leaders of Hai Chau District People's Committee and some units presented national flags and gifts to encourage fishermen to reach out to the sea on the morning of February 23. Photo: VAN HOANG

Improvement of management efficiency

In late February 2024, many fishermen in Hai Chau District were guided and introduced by the Border Guard Command of Da Nang Port on regulations on combating IUU fishing. The annual activity jointly aimed to raise fishermen's awareness of compliance. After the publicity session, the fishermen all agreed to sign a commitment to comply and not violate regulations during their fishing activities.

Mrs. Phan Thi Thang Loi, Vice Chairwoman of Hai Chau District People's Committee, said that fishery promotion movements, and activities to support fishermen whilst going fishing, have always been implemented by the district over the past years.

The district’s authorities regularly coordinate with relevant units to propagate and disseminate the Fisheries Law and regulations related to combating IUU fishing; as well as provide training courses for fishermen to help them improve necessary skills to feel secure and catch seafood effectively and safely in the country's fishing grounds.

According to the Da Nang Fisheries Sub-Department, the implementation of solutions to overcome the EC's warnings on combating IUU exploitation in the city has achieved many positive results.

Up to now, there are 1,192 registered fishing boats in the city. Of which, 286 ones operate in coastal areas, 311 in inshore areas, and 595 in offshore areas. The installation of cruise monitoring equipment for fishing vessels operating in offshore areas has already been completed.

Importance is attached to organising around-the-clock monitoring and supervision for 100% of Da Nang fishing vessels operating at sea through the fishing vessel monitoring system, and promptly handling cases of fishing vessels that lose signals at sea and those that show signs of violation in foreign waters.

In 2023, the sub-department conducted 8 patrols and inspections, and handled 53 cases of IUU fishing violations with a total amount of more than VND1.2 billion in fine.

The municipal Border Guard inspected 5,710 vehicles with a total of 40,874 workers and imposed fines on 25 cases of non-compliance with inspection and control.

Thanks to good implementation of measures, till date, the city has not had any fishing vessels violating exploitation in foreign waters arrested or handled. There were no cases of fishing vessels losing monitoring signals.

Mr. Luu Quang Khanh, Head of the Fisheries Sub-Department, said that in the coming time, the unit will continue to inform, propagate and guide legal regulations for fishermen and relevant organisations and individuals to raise their awareness of compliance with the law and not violating IUU fishing.

The focus will be on effectively carrying out the work of confirming, certifying, tracing the origin of seafood; controlling fishing vessels entering/leaving ports; monitoring exploited seafood output; and regularly reviewing and updating fishing vessel information into the national fisheries database (VNFishbase).

Traceability of electronically exploited aquatic products accelerated

According to the city’s Fisheries Sub-Department, in early March 2024, the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development provided a training course on the use of "Electronic seafood traceability software system - eCDT VN" for management units, organisations, individuals, export businesses and ship and boat owners citywide.

eCDT VN is shared software, installed and used by smartphones to provide full declaration processes and functions according to regulations by the National Department of Fisheries nationwide.

The software ensures the functions of all management agencies, ships, etc. in accordance with the legal process, helping to make traceability steps transparent, moving toward complete automation of the replacement process for retrieval on paper like today.

It has the functions of managing exported fishing vessels and recording initial data about ships and crew; recording seafood catches at the time of fishing through an electronic diary device; managing ships entering ports; updating exploitation output; monitoring output through the port; issuing loading, unloading and seafood purchasing receipts; and granting certificates of origin of raw materials to processing factories.

In particular, the software also supports recording logging logs and shipping logs of exploited products in environments without internet, automatically synchronising when ships dock and connect to the internet.

According to Mr. Nguyen Lai, Head of the Management Board of the Tho Quang Fishing Wharf and Port, the application of electronic seafood traceability software will facilitate quick export and import of fishing vessels, and easy confirmation of output and output certification for businesses.

On the other hand, it will help the management board shorten the confirmation and certification time, avoiding errors and confusion.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Phan Van My highlighted the significance and necessity of eCDT VN in meet the requirements of implementing solutions to combat IUU fishing, thereby joining hands with the whole country to remove the EC's "yellow card" warning.

He also asked for more efforts from relevant units and organisations to guide fishermen to install and use the software effectively.

Reporting by V.HOANG - Translating by M.DUNG