6 groups of tasks and solutions to improve state management capacity in fisheries in Vietnam

6 groups of tasks and solutions to improve state management capacity in fisheries in Vietnam (Internet image)

On June 5, 2023, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision 643/QD-TTg approving the Project on capacity building for State management of fisheries. In order to meet the requirements of sustainable development of the seafood industry in the context of international integration, contribute to achieving the goals of the Strategy for Vietnam's Fisheries Development to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

1. Objectives in 2025 for improving state management capacity in fisheries in Vietnam

Specifically, in Section 2, Article 1 of Decision 643/QD-TTg in 2023, the general objectives and specific objectives up to 2025 are clearly stated as follows:

For the common goal: The state management capacity on fisheries is enhanced, meeting the requirements of sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the context of international integration; and contributing to achieving the objectives of the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam's Fisheries to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Goals by 2025:

- System of legal documents; Technical standards, technical regulations, and economic and technical norms specialized in fisheries shall be reviewed, amended, and supplemented to meet the requirements of international integration and sustainable development of fisheries. The master plans, programs, schemes, and projects for the implementation of the Vietnam Fisheries Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045, have been approved, and resources have been allocated for timely and effective implementation.

- The system of specialized fisheries state management agencies from the central to local levels is consolidated, organized, and arranged in accordance with relevant laws, requirements, and needs of state management in the direction of leanness, effectiveness, and efficiency.

+ Legal status, organizational structure, functions, and duties of representative offices of fisheries inspection and control in central coastal provinces and cities with fishing ports designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are identified, consolidated, and enhanced to effectively serve the state management task of certifying the origin of exported aquatic products.

+ Enhancing the operational efficiency of marine protected area management boards, to build and enforce regulations in coordination with state management agencies and specialized forces in inspecting, controlling, handling violations, and performing tasks on conservation and development of aquatic resources.

+ Local fisheries surveillance was established and consolidated under the Law on Fisheries in 2017, and the master plan on development of fishery surveillance forces to 2030 with an orientation to 2045 was approved by competent authorities.

- Decentralization of state management of fisheries among agencies and units at the central level and between the central and local levels is carried out thoroughly, clearly, and transparently in the direction of one unit taking responsibility and performing many tasks.

- Human resources directly involved in state management of fisheries are enhanced in quantity and quality; they have the skills and knowledge to perform the duties required by the job position.

- Fisheries management agencies under the People's Committees of coastal districts, towns, and cities directly under the central government or localities with a developed fisheries sector, priority shall be given to arranging at least 01 staff member with specialized training in fisheries to monitor and perform state management tasks.

- Information technology and digital transformation are applied to state management activities of the fisheries sector to ensure smooth, timely, and effective direction and management from the central to local levels.

2. 06 groups of tasks and solutions to improve state management capacity in fisheries in Vietnam

To achieve the stated goals, the decision also specifies 6 groups of tasks and solutions to improve management capacity in fisheries in Section 3, Article 1 of Decision 643/QD-TTg in 2023, as follows:

(1) Completing the legal-technical institutional system for fisheries

- Making a plan to develop and review legal documents every year, every 5 years to remove, amend, or add missing regulations in a timely manner to serve production and state management of fisheries. Attach the task of propagating and disseminating legal documents to relevant subjects right in the process of formulation and after being promulgated;

Regularly evaluating and summarizing the implementation and implementation of documents in order to promptly adjust and overcome shortcomings and limitations, if any.

- Organizing the synchronous, timely, and effective implementation of strategies, programs, schemes, projects, and policies related to the fisheries sector approved by competent authorities. Developing a set of criteria and guidelines to monitor, supervise, and evaluate the results of the implementation of strategies, master plans, programs, schemes, projects, and policies on fisheries.

- Reviewing to replace or amend Vietnamese standards and regulations, economic and technical norms in the fisheries sector that are no longer consistent with production practices and management requirements.

Conducting new development of Vietnamese standards and regulations, economic and technical norms for production development and management, in which priority is given to new, valuable, and potential aquaculture species; fishing wharf area, fishing port and anchorage area to avoid storms; waste collection and treatment areas in production; cold storage system; marine farming infrastructure...

(2) Consolidating and consolidating the organizational structure, functions, and tasks of state management agencies in charge of fisheries

- At the center

- Arranging the organizational apparatus of the central-level state management agency in charge of fisheries in accordance with Decree 105/2022/ND-CP defining the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Reviewing and evaluating operational efficiency to clearly define the functions and tasks of the fisheries state management and advisory agencies at the central and local levels; clearly define state management tasks and public services.

- Researching, developing, and applying experimental models of state management of fisheries in accordance with local conditions and trends in fisheries management of advanced countries in the world.

- Developing and applying criteria for assessing the quality of public services in the fisheries sector as a basis for summarizing and improving the quality of public services.

- Locally

+ Arranging the organization and apparatus for managing fisheries in the locality according to the provisions of relevant laws and the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Home Affairs; suitable to local conditions in the direction of leanness, efficiency, and non-overlapping functions and tasks between units.

+ Evaluating the performance of local models of fisheries management organizations to organize and rearrange in accordance with actual conditions on the principle that management efficiency is improved, enhanced, and comprehensive, and at the same time, it is streamlined and does not increase the number of staff.

For the provinces/cities with a developed fisheries sector, contributing greatly in terms of export volume, value, and turnover, organizing a specialized and competent fisheries state management agency, and having human resources according to the Law on Organization of Local Government;

In the remaining localities, a specialized department will be formed to advise and manage the state on fisheries under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or under a specialized Sub-department with the number of staff members and their capacity according to the job position scheme to ensure adequate state management capacity in the fisheries sector.

+ Paying attention to and arranging for at least 01 staff with expertise in fisheries to monitor and manage at units assigned the task of state management of fisheries at the district level, town, city directly under the province/central coastal city, and other localities where the fisheries sector is developed.

+ Strengthening the legal status of the representative office of fisheries inspection and control at the fishing port designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to inspect, examine, and control fishing vessels docked in service of certifying the origin of exported aquatic products. The composition of personnel and the size of the office comply with relevant regulations, local practical conditions and the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

+ Enhancing the operational efficiency of marine protected area management boards; developing and enforcing regulations on coordination with state management agencies and specialized forces in inspecting, controlling, handling violations, and performing the tasks of conservation, protection, and development of aquatic resources.

+ Establishing local fisheries surveillance in coastal provinces and centrally-run cities according to the Law on Fisheries 2017 and the Master Plan on development of fishery control forces to 2030, with an orientation to 2045.

(3) Decentralization of state management of fisheries

- Reviewing documents on decentralization of state management between the central and local governments and units at the central level to adjust, supplement, and adjust in time, in order to promote the capacity of state management of fisheries at all levels.

- Promoting decentralization for management agencies at all levels, from central to local, in fisheries management in accordance with the conditions of each agency and locality in order to enhance the initiative in allocating resources, funding, and task implementation. Strengthening decentralization associated with inspection, examination, supervision, post-inspection work, and the responsibility of the head.

(4) Developing human resources for state management of fisheries

- Building a list of job positions, payroll, and the number of people working based on the provisions of the law, specific conditions in the local fisheries industry in a streamlined, effective, and efficient manner.

- Improving the quality of human resources through the development of training programs to ensure comprehensive knowledge of state management and specialized knowledge of fisheries. Developing plans and organize training for fisheries managers in skills in advising, formulating, organizing, and implementing policies, legislative documents serving the state management of fisheries.

- Based on relevant legal regulations, develop a mechanism to attract highly qualified young cadres to participate in fisheries management in various forms (e.g. entrance examination, admission without examination, admission examination); regularly organize training to improve professional skills for the staff of state management of fisheries.

- Developing plans for rotation and secondment of civil servants and public employees of fisheries management agencies from central to local levels, from provincial to district levels; rotation and secondment between agencies and units in accordance with the actual situation, capacity and forte of the individual, and requirements for performing tasks. Associate training and retraining with planning and appointments. Ensure a sufficient number of leaders and managers at all levels to advise and perform tasks.

- Developing tasks to order the training of human resources in the field of fishing and fishery monitoring in association with the recruitment and employment mechanism after training; selecting excellent students with achievements in study and research to train, develop, and create human resources for management in the field of fishing and fishery control.

- Increasingly sending managers to attend international conferences, foreign surveys, research cooperation with international partners, participate in specialized international networks and forums, etc., in order to share experiences, coordinate research, transfer technology on fisheries, and improve foreign language ability and international integration capacity.

- Implementing the structure, arranging the contingent of cadres, civil servants, and public employees in the fishery industry according to job position, capacity framework, ensuring the right people in the right jobs, improving quality, and being reasonable in structure

(5) Applying information technology and digital transformation to the state management of fisheries

- Investing in, calling for, and attracting investment to upgrade equipment and working means for agencies and civil servants performing the task of state management of fisheries.

- New construction, upgrade, expansion, integration of software, database system for specialized management of fisheries
associated with the decentralization of management, access to exploitation, and use of software and specialized fisheries management database systems from central to local levels.

- Inheriting, developing, investing, expanding, and upgrading the existing information technology system to serve management in accordance with the general trend of modern fisheries management in the region and around the world.

- Mobilizing resources from legal sources, ODA, etc. to invest in and upgrade software, facilities, and equipment for management. Ensure adequate investment and complete each item to effectively exploit investment resources.

(6) Some other tasks and solutions

- Strengthening and renovating appropriate forms and methods of inspection, examination, and supervision of specialized fisheries to improve the efficiency of state management.

- Developing programs and plans and organizing the implementation of international cooperation in research and technology transfer, human resource development, and fishery trade to serve management and production.

- Renovating the form of control and supervision of scientific and technological tasks in the fisheries sector to improve the quality of scientific and technological products and meet the requirements of management and production.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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