Hai Phong city has a long coastline, with many households engaged in fishing, aquaculture and seafood exploitation.
Taking advantage of days when rough the sea prevent vessels from going offshore, Lieutenant Colonel Le Viet Dung, Political Commissar of Bach Long Vi Border Post, together with his comrades, are present at the anchorage area to disseminate information and encourage fishermen to comply with regulations on the exploitation and harvesting of aquatic and marine resources.
    |
 |
|
Officers of Bach Long Vi Border Post disseminating legal knowledge to fishermen anchoring their vessels on the island. |
The officer said that with many vessels coming in to seek shelter during the monsoon season, local border guard force invited fishermen from four to five vessels onto one vessel for direct information dissemination and distribution of leaflets to encourage them to avoid exploiting without a valid license or with an expired license; using banned fishing gear; exploiting in prohibited waters or during closed seasons; exploiting endangered, precious and rare aquatic species or aquatic products below the prescribed size. The force combined information dissemination with patrols, inspections and strict handling of vessel owners who deliberately violated regulations.
At Do Son Border Post, information dissemination activities against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing have also been intensified during this period through maritime patrols and inspections, as well as the organization of concentrated dissemination sessions with the participation of a large number of fishermen.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Manh Hung, Head of the Do Son Border Post, stated, “We have coordinated with the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center Region 1 under the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center, the coast guard, naval, fisheries surveillance forces, and local Party committees and authorities to invite fishing vessel owners, captains and fishermen to our unit to attend legal dissemination and education sessions. This is combined with presenting national flags and free life jackets, and mobilizing fishermen to sign commitments not to violate regulations when operating at sea.”
With the motto “wherever there are fishermen, there are legal dissemination and education activities,” over the years, the Hai Phong municipal border guard force has implemented the “three closes” approach: close to localities, close to fishermen, and close to fishing grounds.
Border guard units have pro-actively renovated and diversified forms and measures of legal dissemination and education to ensure suitability with practical conditions at each agency, unit and locality, such as organizing centralized information dissemination conferences; information provision via loudspeaker systems of localities and units; visual dissemination through slogans, panels and posters; mobile dissemination; and individual dissemination through border guard professional measures. In particular, agencies and units have promoted the role of orators at all levels to visit fishing vessels to disseminate information and distribute leaflets to fishermen. These forms and measures have helped bring the law closer to fishermen, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of legal dissemination activities.
Colonel Nguyen Van Lap, Political Chief of the Hai Phong Municipal Border Guard Command, said, “At each stage, we identify information dissemination contents suitable to realities, focusing on key legal documents such as the UNCLOS 1982; the Vietnam Law of the Sea; the Vietnam Border Guard Law; the Vietnam Coast Guard Law; regulations on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and disaster prevention and response, and maritime search and rescue. Dissemination materials and publications have been compiled concisely, focusing on core contents so that fishermen can easily understand, remember and implement them.”
|
|
 |
|
Fishermen provided with legal knowledge |
To improve the effectiveness of legal dissemination and education, every year the Hai Phong Municipal Border Guard Command places emphasis on training and enhancing the professional qualifications, skills and practical experience of cadres, staff and soldiers engaged in the work. The command pro-actively coordinates with press agencies to publish news and articles and to build columns and thematic programs on legal dissemination and education. It also sends text messages to fishermen; and mobilizes and encourages reputable and influential individuals in the community to participate in the information dissemination work.
Senior Colonel Pham Hong Phong, Deputy Political Commissar of the Hai Phong Municipal Military Command and Political Commissar of the Municipal Border Guard Command, stated that in 2025 the unit has organized eight legal dissemination and education conferences for 1,313 participants including residents, crew-members, workers and fishing vessel owners; conducted 265 dissemination sessions via local broadcasting systems; carried out 1,933 direct dissemination sessions through daily border guard activities; and sent messages to 1,400 fishermen. The officer added that the unit has raised awareness of anti-IUU fishing of 12,431 vessel owners and crew members.
These results have helped effectively implement the movement “All people participate in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation”; ensure security and safety at sea. They have also helped fishermen feel secure to go offshore; and, together with the border guard force, firmly safeguard the sacred maritime sovereignty of the Fatherland.
Translated by Chung Anh