Three departments: from May 1 to September 16, a special law enforcement action will be carried out on the marine off-season fishing moratorium

According to the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and the China Coast Guard recently jointly issued the "Notice on Carrying out Special Law Enforcement Actions for the 2024 Marine Off-season Fishing Moratorium" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), deciding to carry out a special law enforcement action on the marine off-season fishing moratorium (hereinafter referred to as the "Special Action") from May 1 to September 16, 2024.

In terms of operational tasks, the notice proposes that the first is to coordinate and strengthen the management of fishing moratoriums at home ports. Establish a roster of fishing vessels that should be suspended at the county (city, district) level, implement systems such as port management, joint vessel designation, ship position reporting, regular spot inspection, and weekly information reports, and urge fishing vessels that should be suspended to return to their home ports for a fishing moratorium. If it is really impossible to return to the port of registry for fishing due to special reasons, in accordance with the principle of "who approves, who is responsible, who takes in, and who supervises", the provincial-level fishery and fishery administration department where the port of registry is located shall coordinate with the fishery and fishery administration department at the place where the fishing port is to be berthed to perform the supervision responsibility, and establish a co-management mechanism for fishing vessels in other places, so as to effectively achieve "the ship returns to the port, the person goes ashore, and the net is put into storage".

The second is to continue to make efforts to do a good job in special (concessionary) fishing supervision. In accordance with the relevant requirements of the special (concessional) fishing license for special economic species and the supporting service arrangements for fishing auxiliary vessels during the 2024 marine off-season fishing moratorium, the special (concessionary) fishing vessel identification management, dynamic monitoring of vessel positions, entry and exit of fishing ports, fixed-point landing of catches, and quota fishing systems will be implemented to ensure the smooth and orderly implementation of the special (concessionary) fishing system, and the scientific use of special economic species resources without affecting the order of the marine off-season fishing moratorium. We will continue to intensify law enforcement and inspections of special (concessional) fishing for four types of fishing vessels in the East China Sea, including truss trawling shrimp, cage pots, gillnets, and light seine (laying) nets, focusing on fishing vessels that have been investigated and punished for serious violations of the relevant regulations on the marine off-season fishing moratorium, and severely cracking down on illegal activities such as going to sea without a license and operating in violation of the provisions of special (concessionary) fishing licenses. Strengthen the supervision and management of marine fishery resources survey activities, focus on inspecting licensed operations, the use of ship position monitoring equipment, etc., and urge them to strictly implement the relevant management system to ensure that the catch is properly disposed of in accordance with the requirements and prevent it from entering the market.

The third is to carry out regular inspections at sea by patrolling and preventing them. Coordinate law enforcement forces, implement normal patrol requirements, expand patrol prevention and control areas, strengthen the control of entry and exit channels and inspections of key sea areas, and organize cross-inspections, surprise spot checks and regional joint inspections from time to time, so that there are no loopholes in control and no blind spots. Intensify on-site boarding and inspection, and inspect all fishing-related vessels found at sea, and severely punish those found to be involved in fishing-related violations of laws and regulations in accordance with the law; if they are unable to board and inspect, they should retain evidence sufficient to reflect the characteristics and information of the vessels involved in fishing in violation of the regulations, and promptly report to the relevant departments for verification and handling in accordance with the law.

Fourth, take multiple measures to strengthen the management and control of key waters. Strengthen law enforcement and supervision in areas where reports from the masses are concentrated and illegal fishing occurs frequently, as well as in key areas such as the Yangtze River estuary, the 26th and 30th north latitudes, the 35th parallel north latitude, and the waters near the bottom trawling ban area, and severely crack down on illegal cross-regional and cross-line operations and large-scale and mass illegal fishing activities. Strengthen patrols and control of sensitive foreign-related waters such as those related to South Korea and North Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, and strictly prevent illegal cross-border (line) fishing by Chinese fishing vessels. Strengthen patrol law enforcement in areas with a high incidence of foreign fishing vessel encroachment on the Beibu Gulf side and around Hainan Island, and comprehensively use administrative and judicial means to effectively deter foreign fishing vessels from encroaching on fishing.

Fifth, it is necessary to track and keep an eye on key ships and special groups. Strengthen the supervision of objects that are prone to frequent violations of laws and regulations, focusing on the prevention of fishing vessels suspended in other places, fishing auxiliary vessels, township vessels, fishing vessels that "change from towing to thorn (encirclement), and trolling (encirclement, thorn) to fishing", and key fishing vessels such as those seized by the courts, as well as captains, ship owners, enterprise leaders, and other employees who have been investigated for criminal responsibility for fishing-related activities or have been administratively punished for violating the provisions of the marine off-season fishing moratorium in the past two years. It is necessary to strengthen daily supervision and control over non-stop fishing vessels such as aquaculture fishing vessels, fishing tackle fishing boats, and recreational fishing vessels, so as to prevent them from changing their production and operation methods and engaging in illegal fishing activities.

Sixth, strengthen the supervision of fishing ports and wharves with shore-controlled seas. Strengthen the inspection of fishing ports and wharves and the management of dock repair fishing vessels, regularly verify the number and information of vessels, and use the dynamic monitoring system of fishing vessels and fishing ports to implement 24-hour monitoring and patrol, so as to grasp the dynamics of ships in a timely manner. If it is found that it is operating in violation of regulations, it shall be recalled in time and severely punished in accordance with the law. Where illegal supply, transportation, or trading of fish catches is discovered, it is necessary to stop it in a timely manner and severely deal with it in accordance with the law. It is necessary to take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the fishing moratorium to organize the closure of ports and the clearance of ships, strengthen the investigation and cleaning of the "three nos" vessels involved in fishing, trace the source and investigate the repair of ships, and cooperate with the relevant departments to investigate and deal with illegal ship repairs.

Seventh, it is necessary to severely crack down on the illegal activities of speedboats related to fishing. Strengthen the patrol duty of key waters such as the "three fields and one channel" for aquatic organisms, increased breeding waters, marine ranches, and easy to hide anchorage points, and accurately crack down on speedboats carrying nets to sea, illegal fishing, illegal mining of aquaculture products, and berthing and unloading illegal catches. Adhere to the principle of "paying equal attention to land and sea, waiting for the rabbit, and fighting when it emerges", stationing law enforcement forces at key ports and berthing points to carry out regular duty, carrying out full-coverage inspections of the entire coastline with the stationed ports as the center, and implementing fixed-point squatting in key areas such as remote port berthing points and shorelines with monitoring blind spots according to clues, and investigating and dealing with illegal acts at the first time.

Eighth, it is necessary to dig deep and crack down on fishing-related crimes. Pay close attention to key areas, parts, vessels and personnel involved in fishing, strengthen basic information mapping and intelligence information collection, research and judgment, promptly discover intelligence clues on illegal fishing at sea and illegal cross-border (line) fishing, and concentrate efforts on investigating and handling a number of major cases of illegal fishing at sea. In cases suspected of being organized or organized into gangs, in accordance with the principle of combining "cracking the case, digging up the source, breaking the chain, and cracking down on the periphery," we should focus on the whole process and link of ports, shipyards, markets, supplies, and the sea, so as to achieve a full-chain crackdown and rectification; severely punish those who are found to be sea tyrants and fishermen, as well as the organizers behind the scenes of illegal fishing, and black intermediaries; and implement a criminal justice policy of blending leniency and severity with education and guidance as the main focus and supplemented by crackdown and rectification of fishermen's illegal fishing behaviors with minor personal circumstances.

In terms of key points of work, the notice makes it clear that from May 1 to May 15, fishery administration and coast guard vessels in all localities should go out to carry out large-scale, high-density patrols and inspections in the whole sea area, so as to form a strict law enforcement posture from the beginning.

From August 1 to September 16, special supervision was carried out on four types of fishing vessels, including truss dragging shrimp, cage pots, gill nets and light seine (laying) nets, in the sea area between 35 degrees north latitude and 26 degrees 30 minutes north latitude.

From August 16 to September 16, a centralized control operation was carried out in the sea area near 26 degrees 30 minutes north latitude.

From September 1 to September 16, a centralized control operation was carried out in the sea area near 35 degrees north latitude.

Before the start of fishing, we will jointly carry out inspections and visits to ports and wharves, strengthen legal popularization and safety education, investigate potential safety hazards and supervise rectification, so as to ensure the safe sailing of ships. In the rest of the period, we will implement the requirements of normalized management and control, and organize and carry out centralized management and control actions for foreign-related fisheries in a timely manner according to the maritime situation, and crack down on illegal fishing in sensitive foreign-related waters and the encroachment of foreign fishing vessels.

Source: China News Network