Strengthening monitoring of aquatic products exploited at fishing ports

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Monitoring the origin of aquatic products exploited through the fishing port system is one of the recommendations made by the European Commission (EC) to help Vietnam remove the "yellow card" for aquatic products. Together with other localities nationwide, Thanh Hoa province has been strengthening the monitoring of the origin of aquatic products exploited through fishing ports. This is not only a solution to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, but also contributes to increasing the value of the province's annual fishing products.

Provincial authorities inspect fishermen's compliance with IUU fishing regulations.

After a month-long sea voyage, the first thing Mr. Nguyen Van Son - owner of TH-92491 ship, when preparing to return to shore, is to contact the on-duty officer at Lach Hoi Fishing Port, Sam Son Ward to notify the time of arrival. At the same time, proactively check the schedule and fishing log on the electronic software to compare and ensure the procedure for requesting a certificate of origin of seafood.

Mr. Son said: “During the process of loading and unloading seafood at the port, the Lach Hoi Fishing Port Management Board will send staff to coordinate and check for any IUU fishing violations, such as fishing and transporting prohibited seafood; fishing for aquatic species smaller than prescribed; illegally fishing for aquatic species on the list of endangered and rare aquatic species; fishing for aquatic products exceeding the output of each species; violating regulations related to the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources. When qualified, the products of the fishing trip will be granted a certificate of origin, ensuring standards for supply to seafood processing units for export, thereby, the economic value is higher than traditional, free consumption”.

Assessing the benefits of this declaration process, Mr. Pham Gia Thuong - owner of ship TH-91856 TS in Sam Son ward, said: "Complying with the declaration process when the ship leaves or enters the port is very convenient for the process of going offshore, anchoring, and loading and unloading products. When notifying at least 1 hour in advance, the management board of the fishing ports will arrange and set up a safe anchorage area, without wasting time moving, delaying the transportation of goods, the products will retain their fresh quality".

It is known that Mr. Thuong's ship TH-91856 TS fishes for squid in the Gulf of Tonkin. By complying with regulations on export, import as well as anti-IUU fishing, the ship's products are certified for the origin of exploited aquatic products, ensuring export raw material standards. Therefore, about 60% of the output of each offshore trip is purchased and processed by a seafood processing enterprise located in Sam Son ward for export.

Along with the control of ships entering the port, the control of ships departing the port is also strictly implemented by the Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board to prevent ships at risk of IUU violations from the shore and guide ship owners on the necessary procedures when going to sea. For ships to depart, the port management department will check and approve the departure on the eCDT VN app, and record it in the logbook. After completing the documents and procedures, the ship owner or captain will directly bring the documents to the local border control station to be granted permission for the ship to leave the port. Absolutely do not depart for vehicles that do not ensure the required paperwork and technical safety equipment according to regulations.

In charge of Lach Hoi Fishing Port (Sam Son Ward), Le Van Han said: "To better control the output of seafood exploited through the ports, 100% of the province's vessels over 15m in length have installed voyage monitoring equipment. This not only helps fishermen access modern technology and operate fishing activities in accordance with regulations, but also helps the port management board to better control the output of seafood exploited through the port. One advantage of monitoring seafood at the port is the transparency of the origin of the products, helping the products to be easily consumed in the linked chains, bringing higher economic value."

Officers of Hoang Truong Border Guard Station propagate anti-IUU fishing to fishermen.

Thanh Hoa province currently has more than 6,555 fishing vessels, of which 1,063 are 15m or longer, with an annual seafood output of more than 130,000 tons. Of which, more than 60% is offshore seafood output. According to statistics, in the first 7 months of 2025, the province's fishing ports monitored about 8,300 tons of seafood, an increase of 29.2% over the same period. Through monitoring, seafood exporting enterprises have been supported to issue 20 certificates of origin of seafood materials exploited through ports with an output of nearly 90 tons of squid for export abroad. This is a remarkable number, but one of the mandatory regulations of the EC in removing the "yellow card" for Vietnamese seafood is that 100% of the output exploited from offshore fishing vessels must be monitored for traceability at the port through the logbook report of each fishing trip. In fact, in the province, monitoring of fishing output at ports is not really effective, the rate of monitored output is still low. The reason given by the agricultural sector is that the infrastructure of fishing ports is degraded, large-capacity boats have difficulty docking; and the recording and submission of fishing logs by fishermen is still limited.

Understanding these difficulties, from 2021 to now, the provincial budget has spent more than 9.18 billion VND to invest in and upgrade fishing port projects and storm shelters for fishing vessels at Lach Hoi Fishing Port, Lach Bang Fishing Port and Hoa Loc Fishing Port. Through the support, the fishing ports have been invested in spacious and modern facilities, contributing to the development of the fisheries economy, ensuring safety for fishermen, enhancing fishing logistics services, ensuring food hygiene and safety, reducing post-harvest losses and improving the ability to respond to climate change. At the same time, the province supports the installation of voyage monitoring equipment, propaganda and mobilization of fishermen to comply in order to strengthen monitoring and traceability of exploited aquatic products through recording and submitting fishing logs at fishing ports. Transparency of information from the management of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports to loading and unloading goods and monitoring of seafood output will ensure the implementation of the Fisheries Law and EC recommendations achieve the best results, contributing to the whole country removing the IUU "yellow card" for the Vietnamese seafood industry.

Article and photos: Tran Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tang-cuong-giam-sat-thuy-san-khai-thac-tai-cac-cang-ca-256539.htm