Many fishing vessel owners do not cooperate with authorities when detected violating vessel monitoring system due to connection loss for many days at sea. Le Huu Toan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Giang Province, stated that handling violations of fishing vessels has faced many difficulties because the owners do not cooperate when summoned.
Specifically, with the monitoring system, 112 instances of fishing vessels were detected to lose connection at sea for more than 10 days in the first five months of 2024. Those 112 vessels were sommoned, but only 68 owners or captains presented.
During the sessions, the technical agencies cleared 12 vessels as the captains had promptly rectified the issue and reported their positions as required. The authorities recorded administrative violations for 23 vessels.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s inspectors issued fines to 20 fishing vessel owners, collecting nearly 1 billion VND for the state budget. Three cases are under review, and the remaining 33 vessels are still being processed.
Additionally, 565 instances of fishing vessels losing connection at sea for over 48 hours but less than 10 days are being investigated in coordination with other relevant agencies to determine the cause and handle according to regulations.
Since the beginning of the year, 32 fishing vessels have been detected showing signs of trespassing permitted waters. After working with the authorities, 7 vessels were cleared, and 15 cases have not yet complied. Ten vessel owners claimed their vessels drifted beyond the boundary while anchoring and the captains brought the vessels back to Vietnamese waters once detected.
However, these are only the owners’ statements. The technical unit has requested the owners to report back when the vessels return to port to clarify the incidents, but to date, they have not complied.
VFM
