In-depth
Fishermen struggle to find ways to cope with new regulation
  • | dtinews.vn | July 19, 2019 12:37 PM
Many fishing boats in the central region have had to stop operation following a new regulation that bans boat less than 15 metres in length in order to preserve the marine environment.


  

Thousands of boats have not been able to go on fishing trips


In February and March, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development asked local authorities report about the number of fishing boats that are longer than 6 metres. At the same time, the ministry also temporarily applied a ban on transforming, renting and trading boats that are or longer than 15 metres.

According to the new regulations, the ministry will not grant off-shore fishing permits to owners of boats that are less than 15 metres long. Those boats are only allowed to fish in areas that are 60 nautical miles away from the shore.

The regulation aims to preserve the marine environment and especially to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The ministry has also issued a quota for off-shore fishing licenses. For example, Phu Yen's quota is 451, Khanh Hoa's quota is 768, and Ninh Thuan's quota is 568 licenses.

The regulation has gained complaints from many fishermen as thousands of boats have not been able to go on fishing trips further from shore. There are too many fishermen while the licenses are too few.

According to Tran Van Linh, chairman of Danang Fishing Union, the city has 177 fishing boats with a 90CV capacity but they are less than 15 metres long. When the government encouraged the fishermen to build new boats, there were no specific requirements so the fishermen used their knowledge and experience to build the most suitable boats for themselves.

Nguyen Bi, a fisherman from Son Tra District, Danang City, said he couldn't use his boat for the past two months after the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Planning issued new regulations. Bi's boat is 14.5 metres long so he has been banned from going on off-shore fishing trips.

Bi hopes that the government will have support policies since they do not know anything else besides fishing. Most fishermen do not have any diploma so finding another job is extremely difficult for them.

According to the Fisheries Sub-department of Southern Central provinces, there are nearly 10,000 boats that are 15 metres in length. 1,170 boats that are 12 to 15 metres long in Khanh Hoa Province still went on off-shore fishing trips.

Nguyen Trong Chanh, head of Khanh Hoa Fisheries Department, said they had asked the ministry to increase the quota and lift the temporary ban on transforming and trading boats.

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