In the early morning fog, the light speedboat took off and slipped out of the anchorage in Bao Ninh Township (Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh Province) toward Nhat Le Estuary to head to the sea and begin the sea patrol cruise.

Mr. Le Van Thao, working captain (under Quang Binh Fisheries Subdivision), timidly whispered to us, “We can only canoe because the vessel VN-94429-KN is too old, so the speed is not good.” . by raking and consumes a lot of fuel. Now, to patrol the sea, we only use this boat.”

There are fishing boats “5 no”

We conducted a sea patrol in a speedboat with a capacity of about 10 people. In addition to the 5 people of the Quang Binh Fisheries Subdivision Specialized Inspectors and the Nhat Le Border Patrol Station Coordination Working Group (belonging to Quang Binh Border Patrol).

In addition to Captain Le Van Thao, who is Deputy Administrative Manager of the Inspection Department of Quang Binh Fisheries Sub-department and is a civil servant, the remaining three members are Nguyen Tien Quang – Captain, Nguyen Van Duan – Vice Captain, Dang Thanh Thanh – Chief Engineer and Le Van Quoc – Civil servants , are both officers of the subdivision.

As we were leaving early, we had canned shrimp noodles for breakfast. Mr. Duan said, “Follow the waves.” Before I could understand what was happening, a high wave hit the boat and threw up the bow of the boat, the box of instant noodles in my hand was thrown out, and the water rushed in on the chest of the shirt and wet the clothes. As it turns out, holding a box of instant noodles in your hand needs your eye to watch. When the waves are calm or low, take a bite immediately, when the wave is high, the right hand should hold the instant noodle box. It’s called “Follow the Wave”.

Almost two hours later, our boat came out about 10 nautical miles from shore. Captain Le Van Thao explained, “Because it is a speedboat, the stability of the boat is low, so the group could not go further out to sea. Once we chased the fishing boat too far only to find on our return that there was a lack of fuel. Luckily we were able to reach the shore.”

Seeing a large boat heading north in the distance, the speedboat turned on the siren. Boarding the vessel number QB188TS under the captain of Mr. Hoang Quy Vinh at Bao Ninh Township (Dong Hoi City). This is a fishing logistic ship specializing in the purchase of seafood. Mr. Vinh, the ship’s owner, said: The ship was at sea for three days but could not buy much fish and shrimp. In the last few days the boats haven’t caught much so we can’t buy them as planned. It will be two more days before we return to land.

Since the fisheries logistic vessel had committed no violation, the work group boat continued to push south.

About 30 minutes later, first officer Duan spotted through binoculars that two fishing boats were in unauthorized waters, so he accelerated to get closer to the official inspection. This is a ship with a capacity of 700 CV, equipped with a single computing network.

Usually the trawlers sail in pairs, with each trawler covering about three to four nautical miles on one side of the net and then closing the net to catch fish and shrimp. The single rake ship has one, so at the stern of the ship there are two large wooden forks, about 4-5 m long, spread on both sides. Each wing tip pulls one side of the web. When the net is thrown into the sea, the trawler sails about nautical miles, closes the net and the winch pulls the net up. All towed seafood is placed in the nets and pulled onto the deck by the winch. All kinds of shrimp, fish, crab, shrimp… and even objects floating near the bottom of the sea are collected in the net. This style of fishing is also known as ‘kill fishing’ because when the seine spills over, shrimp and fish from large to small enter the net, are hauled up and thrown to the deck.

Mr. Nguyen Nghe (resident in Hai Trach Township, Bo Trach District) is the owner and captain of fishing boat number BV 9568S. Mr Ngao said that the ship was bought by your province and brought back by you, so it had no legal papers and was not doing the right job as stated in the license.

“I see that my ship has many shortcomings. But because he had to make a living, he took a risk. “On the next voyage, my ship will have all sorts of new papers to set sail,” Mr. Ngao promised. The inspection unit establishes a protocol to deal with violations according to the regulations.

The Mission proceeded to inspect the fishing boat, numbered QB 1129TS, owned by Mr. Hoang Viet Phong (resident in Bao Ninh Township, Dong Hoi City) as the ship’s owner and captain. This vessel performs the exchange and completes the paperwork related to the fishing vessel that is not yet completed but has set sail. The Mission has called on fishermen and reminded them to pay close attention to fishing vessel regulations and use the correct content provided in the license.

After noon, we were about to have a meal of instant noodle standard when we discovered that the vessel with fish number QB 9256TS was practicing squid shooting by Mr. Le Van Ty (resident in Duc Trach Township, Bo Trach District, Quang Province). Binh) as ship owner and captain. . Through the process of full verification of fishing vessel QB 9256TS documents. The working group reminded fishermen to actively stick to the sea, never cross the boundaries at sea, always have cruise monitoring equipment and actively work to prevent IUU fishing.

According to Mr. Ty, the fishing boat QB 9256TS is only out on the open sea at night. During the day the ship goes here to anchor and rest for safety reasons and returns to the fishing area in the late afternoon according to the regulations.

Seeing that we were talking about eating instant noodles, Mr. Ty happily invited the delegation to lunch with the brothers on the train. “Sometimes our ship can pick up a group for a visit and lunch. All year round at the seaside there are only guests who can be invited. Now very valuable and happy to meet you too,” added Mr. Ty.

When everyone took a lunch break to prepare food, some of us borrowed a fishing line from the boat and dropped the bait into the sea. However, almost half an hour had passed and all five people could only catch one fish the size of two adult fingers with five fishing rods. Everyone looked at each other suspiciously. Captain Duan was sad: “Could it be that the fishery and shrimp resources in the sea are also depleted?”

The sea week must pay attention to the time to return to the wharf

Towards the end of the afternoon, the task force also inspected three other fishing vessels in the sea area about 10 nautical miles offshore. Violations occur on most ships, for example because the fishermen do not have enough life jackets on board, the captain’s certificate is “forgotten” or only a simple copy is carried. The task force reminded the captains of these ships so that the next sailing trip would not be disturbed.

“We remember it, but we know for sure the data about the ship and the coordinates of the breach. Should the offense repeat itself, we will take decisive action and force them to return to shore and impose administrative sanctions in accordance with regulations,” said Captain Le Van Thao.

When the sun was still high and discovered the ship was cruising in the area, Captain Thao turned the speedboat to shore. Team captain Thao explained, “If we don’t arrive on time, the sea will be windy. At this time, the big waves are very dangerous for our boats. It is very dangerous to enter the Nhat Le estuary. Sometimes I have to go to the beach and send my brothers to watch.

When the boat reached the Nhat Le Gate, there were big waves as if chasing the canoe. As the weather changed, the first waves threw up violently, banging against the stern of the speedboat. The brothers had to hold onto the side of the boat with both hands to keep from being thrown into the sea by the violent waves.