What are rights and obligations of fishing vessel owners in Vietnam under the Law on Fisheries? How much is the fine for overfishing by the fishing vessel owner?
Rights and Obligations of Fishing Vessel Owners in Vietnam According to the Latest Law on Fisheries
Article 73 of the Law on Fisheries 2017 stipulates the rights and obligations of fishing vessel owners as follows:
Rights and Obligations of Fishing Vessel Owners
1. To choose a qualified registration entity for fishing vessel registration.
2. To comply with regulations on fishing vessel registration.
3. To ensure working conditions, living conditions, safety, labor policies, rights, and legitimate interests of the crew members and workers on the fishing vessel.
4. To arrange crew members according to the minimum safe manning standards of the fishing vessel, as prescribed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
5. To purchase accident insurance and other mandatory insurance for the crew members and workers on the fishing vessel as required. To pay necessary living and travel expenses for the crew members and workers to return home in the event the captain requires them to leave the fishing vessel.
6. To take responsibility in the event the fishing vessel violates regulations on illegal fishing.
Thus, the fishing vessel owner will have the following rights and obligations:
Rights:
- To choose a qualified registration entity for fishing vessel registration.
Obligations:
- To comply with regulations on fishing vessel registration.
- To ensure working conditions, living conditions, safety, labor policies, rights, and legitimate interests of the crew members and workers on the fishing vessel.
- To arrange crew members according to the minimum safe manning standards of the fishing vessel.
- To purchase accident insurance and other mandatory insurance for the crew members and workers on the fishing vessel. To pay necessary living and travel expenses.
- To take responsibility in the event the fishing vessel violates regulations on illegal fishing.
What are rights and obligations of fishing vessel owners in Vietnam under the Law on Fisheries? How much is the fine for overfishing by the fishing vessel owner? (Image from the Internet)
How much is the fine for fishing vessel owners who exceed the fishing quota in Vietnam?
According to point h clause 2 Article 20 of Decree 42/2019/ND-CP, which stipulates severe violations in fishing activities, as follows:
Severe Violations in Fishing Activities
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2. A fine ranging from 500,000,000 VND to 700,000,000 VND shall be imposed on fishing vessel owners for one of the following violations:
a) Using a fishing vessel with a maximum length from 15 meters to less than 24 meters to conduct fishing activities in Vietnamese waters without a fishing license or with an expired fishing license in case of repeated offenses or multiple violations;
b) Using a fishing vessel with a maximum length of 24 meters or more to transfer fisheries products from a fishing vessel without a fishing license, with an expired license, or supporting exploration, search, luring, and transportation activities for fishing vessels identified to have committed illegal fishing activities in case of repeated offenses or multiple violations, except for force majeure situations;
c) Not equipping a monitoring device on a fishing vessel with a maximum length from 15 meters to less than 24 meters as regulated in case of repeated offenses or multiple violations;
d) Not maintaining the operation or deactivating the monitoring device during operations at sea for fishing vessels with a maximum length of 24 meters or more in case of repeated offenses or multiple violations, except for force majeure situations;
dd) Not recording a fishing log, fish purchasing, and transfer log for vessels with a maximum length of 24 meters or more in case of repeated offenses or multiple violations;
e) Concealing, falsifying, or destroying evidence of violations regarding the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources;
g) Not recording or inaccurately recording the fishing log as required by the regional fisheries organization or severely misreporting according to the regional fisheries organization’s regulations when conducting fishing activities in waters under the management authority of said organization;
h) Exceeding the fishing quota permitted by the regional fisheries organization.
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According to the above regulations, fishing vessel owners who exceed the fishing quota permitted by the regional fisheries organization may face an administrative fine ranging from 500,000,000 VND to 700,000,000 VND.
What is the prescriptive period for administrative penalties for fishing vessel owners who exceed the fishing quota permitted by the regional fisheries organization?
Based on Article 3 of Decree 42/2019/ND-CP, which stipulates the prescriptive period for administrative penalties, as follows:
Prescriptive period for Administrative Penalties
The prescriptive period for administrative penalties in the field of fisheries is one year; except for administrative violations related to the production, sale, import, export of fishing vessels, fisheries species, fish feed, environmental treatment products for aquaculture, and protection of aquatic resources, for which the prescriptive period for administrative penalties is two years.
Thus, the prescriptive period for administrative penalties for fishing vessel owners who exceed the fishing quota permitted by the regional fisheries organization is one year.
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