Founded on March 28, 2014, the unit is responsible for guarding, patrolling, inspecting, controlling, and protecting fishing grounds, conducting search and rescue operations, and safeguarding national sovereignty.
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Fisheries cadres and staff on Ship 465 searching for the distressed trawler |
For the past ten years of establishment and development, it has well completed its assigned tasks.
Fisheries Surveillance Detachment No.4 is tasked with managing the large sea area starting from Cu Lao Xanh (Green Islet) in Binh Dinh province to Ba Kiem cape in Binh Thuan province and the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago area. Over the past time, it has overcome difficulties in terms of operational range, force, and weather to give assistance to fishermen.
According to the detachment’s head Nguyen Minh Lanh, fishermen's awareness of the Law of the Sea, the Fisheries Law 2017 and other regulations on exploitation of the sea remains limited. Fishermen go fishing in small groups, individually and separately, making the management, access, information dissemination, and inspection difficult. To raise their awareness of safe and legal exploitation of seafood at sea, the dissemination of information about the Law of the Sea is really important. The unit yearly collaborates with department of agricultural and rural development of coastal provinces in its assigned areas to disseminate information at ports, wharfs, fishing villages, attracting the participation of a number of local fishermen. Its staff have innovated dissemination methods, developed short, focused, easy-to-remember, easy-to-implement contents so that fishermen could find it easy to grasp new knowledge to go fishing legally and responsibly for sustainable fisheries.
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Personnel from Fisheries Surveillance Detachment No.4 practice rescuing troubled fishermen. |
In order to promote the European Commission’s removal of yellow card warning which has been imposed since October 23, 2017 for Vietnamese sea products exported to European market due to fishermen’s illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the detachment has closely worked with state management agencies to control operations of fishing vessels at sea, cooperated with relevant agencies and units to detect and deal with ships exercising IUU fishing. They have also urged fishermen to abide by regulations in each fishing area and not to use such fishing means against regulations as explosives, electrofishing, and banned substances.
Apart from above activities, the unit always pays due attention to search and rescue work, considering it the top priority task and saving fishermen is like saving their loved ones and an order from the heart. To do this, the unit regularly practices scenarios, even the most complex ones, prepares logistics supplies and good technical conditions of equipment while its staff improve their fitness. It also closely follows situational developments to have timely coordination and response. Last year, the detachment performed 12 search and rescue operations, saving 84 fishermen.
With good vehicles and equipment, a contingent of capable, united fisheries cadres and staff, Fisheries Surveillance Detachment No.4 is confident to continue to bring into play its tradition of solidarity, discipline, bravery, control of fishing grounds, gaining achievements and determination-to-win.
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Fisheries Surveillance Detachment No.4’s staff disseminating information about maritime law to fishermen |
Translated by Mai Huong