Directive No. 22/2006/CT-TTg on Strengthening Work to Ensure Safety for Marine Fishing Activities in Various Sea Areas, Particularly Offshore Fishing

DIRECTIVE

Strengthening work to ensure safety for fishing activities

in various sea areas, particularly distant-water fishing

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After more than one year of implementing the Fisheries Law and Decree No. 66/2005/NĐ-CP dated May 19, 2005 of the Government, as well as relevant legal provisions on ensuring safety for people and fishing vessels engaged in fisheries activities, ministries, sectors, localities, and organizations and individuals have made significant efforts and achieved certain results, contributing to reducing losses caused by accidents and natural disasters at sea. However, the implementation of legal provisions on ensuring safety in fishing activities, especially distant-water fishing, has not been strictly adhered to; propaganda and mobilization work among fishermen and ship owners has not been effective. The loss of lives caused by Typhoon No. 1 (Chanchu) recently revealed many shortcomings in ensuring safety for fishermen and fishing vessels, such as inadequate safety equipment (life jackets, communication devices...); small vessels without adequate conditions still participating in distant-water fishing; insufficient management of fishing vessels operating in fishing grounds; ineffective and non-uniform use and exploitation of communication systems; poor command and rescue operations during typhoons.

To strengthen work to ensure safety for people and fishing vessels engaged in fishing activities at sea, particularly distant-water fishing, the Prime Minister instructs the People's Committees of coastal provinces and cities and relevant central ministries and sectors to implement the following tasks:

1. People's Committees of coastal provinces and cities:

a) Direct all levels of authority, fisheries sector, and local functional agencies to guide and inspect ship owners, captains, and fishermen, particularly those involved in distant-water fishing, to ensure:

- Fishing vessels are always in a safe state, equipped with sufficient safety equipment for people and vessels (life jackets, communication devices, etc.); purchase crew accident insurance; report to the local authorities and border guard posts about the vessel's call sign and communication frequency.

- Vessels must strictly comply with reporting procedures when entering and leaving ports; they must provide specific information about the fishing grounds currently being operated (location, coordinates) to the fisheries management agency and regularly monitor weather forecasts during their operations at sea.

- In case of accidents or typhoons, the captain must take immediate measures to bring the fishing vessel to a safe location; report the position of the fishing vessel, the number of people on board, and send distress signals if necessary to the nearest coast radio station and border guard post; simultaneously, they have the responsibility to participate in rescue operations when discovering other people and fishing vessels in distress.

b) Direct the fisheries sector to guide fishermen to organize fishing production at sea into groups and teams; particularly focus on distant-water fishing to establish rescue plans on the sea when typhoons or incidents occur.

c) Further strengthen propaganda and education for fishermen and ship owners to understand the benefits, importance, and obligations regarding the provision of complete safety equipment and the purchase of crew accident insurance.

2. Central Ministries and Sectors:

a) Ministry of Fisheries:

- Direct and guide localities to review and rectify registration and inspection work for fishing vessels and crew members. In the short term, ensure that all distant-water fishing vessels with engines of 90 horsepower or more are equipped with long-range communication devices and can communicate bidirectionally with the mainland; guide the establishment of collective economic organizations suitable in scale and form for the type of profession and customs of fishermen; build models and forms suitable for the type of profession and customs of fishermen; build production models combined with marine support services to improve the efficiency of fishing vessels while being ready to support and help each other in case of incidents.

- Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and related agencies to study the effective exploitation and utilization of technical facilities invested by the State to build a system of information and fishery management at sea. In the short term, cooperate to use coastal radio stations to promptly inform vessels about typhoons and tropical depressions; urgently establish a communication center to monitor the operation of fishing vessels in various sea areas and handle situations according to the unified guidance of the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and the National Committee for Search and Rescue.

- Accelerate the construction progress and soon put into operation anchorage areas for fishing vessels to ensure the target, effectiveness, especially in areas with high typhoon frequency near large fishing grounds.

b) Border Guard Force, Coast Guard, in coordination with police forces, inspection bodies protecting aquatic resources, and local authorities, strictly control and firmly prohibit people and fishing vessels from operating if they lack adequate safety equipment, and fishermen do not have sufficient life jackets.

c) Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment directs the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting to take measures to issue early warnings about typhoons 48 hours in advance, particularly for typhoons moving over the East Sea, to inform and transmit information to vessels at sea to prevent and avoid them timely.

d) Vietnam Radio and coastal radio stations check and review plans to ensure good coverage quality throughout the country's sea areas and international sea areas where Vietnamese vessels operate, while increasing the frequency of typhoon forecast broadcasts so that coastal localities and vessels operating at sea can proactively prevent and avoid them.

đ) Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention, National Committee for Search and Rescue develop plans for command and rescue operations at sea, ensuring timely and effective search and rescue operations for people and fishing vessels; serve as the communication link and command center for relevant sectors and localities in preventing, avoiding, and rescuing people and vessels when natural disasters occur./.