VIETNAM TUNA FIP LAUNCHES NEW C HOOK PROGRAM IN BINH DINH

Sea Delight Introduces Fishing Community to Handline Swordfish FIP 

D- Fish Announces Mandatory VMS for all Tuna Vessels by Jan. 1, 2020

June 16, 2019, Tam Quan Bac, Binh Dinh, Vietnam.

 Vietnam MARD/Department of Fisheries Binh Dinh (D Fish), VINATUNA and WWF Vietnam, in association with WWF Hong Kong, introduced their new free C Hook distribution and data collection campaign in this important tuna fishery community in Northern Binh DInh Province.

 Fishers who were interested in joining the new C hook program gathered to see presentations on an update of the Vietnam Tuna FIP and on the most recent evidence of the effectiveness of C hooks in reducing accidental marine turtle interactions. Also presented were instructions on the proposed onboard circle hook (C Hook) trial program and the data collection form to be used.

Meeting Participants, note C hooks for distribution in boxes on bottom left

Sea Delight also gave a short orientation presentation on the Vietnam Handline Swordfish FIP and how the work the fishermen were engaged in would help both the tuna and sword FIPs. The use of C hooks, the completion of onboard logbooks (reported by D-Fish to be > 80% in Tam Quan Bac) and the offer to join the Crew Observer Photographic Protocol Application (COPPA) volunteer program were all included.

The final presentation, from VINATUNA, outlined the new Vietnam Fisheries Law requirement for Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) to be installed on all tuna vessels by Jan. 1, 2020.

 The final highlight of the meeting was the presentation of new, high quality, imported # 14 C hooks to each vessel operator. Each received a box of 100 C hooks to use on the next fishing trips on the condition the catch data form would be completed and submitted to FIP representatives.

 After the meeting, many fishers gathered around to see demos of and download the COPPA app in their own Android phones to try. The simple point and shoot photo app allows fishers to record catch information quickly and easily.

Inspecting the new C hooks

Sea Delight’s Stephen Fisher explaining COPPA

VINATUNA installs the COPPA app in a fisher’s phone

 All agreed the meeting was a success and we will post an update here in July on how the C hook trials went and on the implementation of COPPA in the community.