During the recent times, although seafood exploitation activities have encountered difficulties, fishermen have persisted in clinging to sea to make a living. Not only producing at sea to develop the economy, but Phu Yen fishermen also participate in protecting fishing grounds, protecting aquatic resources and protecting the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Tuy Hoa city’s fishermen taking advantage of opportunities to transfer ocean tuna ashore to prepare for a new seatrip

Recent times, the provincial and local functional departments and branches have strengthened propaganda and mobilization work to encourage fishermen to comply with all policies of the Party, policies and laws of the State; not to exploit seafood illegally, unreportedly and unregulatedly (IUU); to participate in protecting fishing grounds, protecting sea and island sovereignty and security and order in the maritime border area. The work has brought about positive results, raising fishermen's awareness.

On offshore trips, in addition to necessary necessities, the national flag is solemnly hung by fishermen at the highest position of the ship and is also an indispensable sacred image. Fisherman Vo Van Tien, owner of fishing boat PY91036TS in Phu Dong ward (Tuy Hoa city) shared: My family has a tradition of fishing for tuna and every time we go to sea, we always have a few national flags on board. Before leaving port, fishermen hang the flag on the roof of the boat, which is the awareness and pride of the nation and also to affirm sovereignty, helping fishermen to be more confident to go out to sea and stick to the sea.

Fisherman Tran Dinh Phuc, captain of fishing boat PY95545TS in Hoa Hiep Nam ward (Dong Hoa town) said: For many generations, not only my family but also many other fishermen in the area have considered the sea as their home. Fishermen’s going out to sea is not only to earn a living but also to affirm the sea area that our ancestors left behind from ancient times, and descendants now have the responsibility to protect the fishing grounds and protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Fisherman Tran Hung Cuong, owner and captain of fishing boat PY90145TS in Phu Dong ward, said: During the recent times, the majority of fishermen have strictly followed the regulations on seafood exploitation, creating high consensus and efforts to contribute to removing the EC's yellow card. Although fishermen go to sea and face many risks, especially the complicated security and order situation in the East Sea, natural disasters and storms have also greatly affected, fishermen have united, helped each other, shared difficulties and risks at sea and exploited seafood together with the highest efficiency.

“In the recent years, when going to sea, fishermen often go in groups, teams, and teams of from 5 to 7 fishing boats to support each other. When encountering a fish stream, they coordinate to catch fish, when fishing boats encounter problems at sea or during the storm avoidance journey, they always support each other. When going far out to sea, fishermen often remind each other not to encroach on foreign waters”, said fisherman Tran Hung Cuong.

Currently, Phu Yen has 3,090 fishing vessels registered on the national fisheries database system for unified operation, comparison, inspection and management, of which 681 vessels are 15m or longer in length. The number of fishing vessels that have installed voyage monitoring equipment (VMS) according to regulations is 672 out of 681 vessels, while 9 vessels have not installed VMS equipment (damaged vessels, lying on shore and not participating in fishing). Through the monitoring system, the provincial authorities regularly remind captains when fishing vessels lose connection, promptly remind fishing vessels that cross the border to quickly return to Vietnamese waters, not to encroach on foreign waters.

To ensure the task of combating IUU fishing, Mr Le Tan Ho, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee directed: Departments, branches, localities, especially leaders, to strictly implement tasks and solutions according to the direction of the central and provincial governments on combating IUU fishing; continue to review and adjust planning and projects related to fisheries in the province to ensure consistency and synchronization with the provincial planning; closely coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to invest in upgrading Dong Tac fishing port into a type I fishing port combined with a regional storm shelter, with complete and modern infrastructure, a synchronous cargo handling line, 90% mechanized in the period of 2021-2030; invest in building type II, type III fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels; Departments, branches and localities continuing to improve state management capacity in combating IUU fishing, increase support for fishing vessel owners to ensure registration and inspection; strictly implement the work of confirming and tracing the origin of exploited aquatic products on the electronic traceability system according to regulations; monitor, detect, receive, verify information, thoroughly handle and update the results of handling violating fishing vessels; continue to launch peak periods of patrolling, inspecting and controlling fishing activities in sea areas, estuaries, fishing ports, related areas and propagate against IUU fishing in the province.