FishSource

Vietnam swordfish - handline (FIP)

Last Updated: 2024-10-16

Progress Rating: C

Evaluation Start Date: 2019-02-04

Type: Comprehensive

Status: Active

FIP Lead: Sea Delight Ocean Fund, Inc. (SDOFI), Cedepesca (C), Hong Ngoc Seafood (HNS)

Stock Profile Link
Swordfish - Northwest Pacific

Comments:

The last stage 4 result remains between 12-24 months old with recent stage 3 results reported. The FIP remains C rated.

1. FIP Development	Nov 17	Fishery assessment or scoping document made public 1 November 2017 — MSC pre-asessment is public
2. FIP Launch	Jul 17	Confirmation of project participants 4 July 2017 — Participants list available
2. FIP Launch	May 22	Workplan made public 14 May 2022 — Updated 2022 workplan 4 February 2019 — Workplan made public
3. FIP Implementation	Jul 24	FIP activities undertaken 1 July 2024 — The FIP distributed 200 shark awareness posters across tuna fishing ports. 25 June 2024 — Catch data has been made available from January- June 2024; 67 trips were conducted and ETPs encountered included: 8 turtles, 3 sharks and 2 rays. 4 December 2023 — The FIP participated in the 20th Regular Session of the WCPFC Scientific Committee. At the meeting, the amended CMM 2022-02 was adopted which requires that the area north of 20°N in the convention area, as well as the entire North Pacific north of the equator be included in the catch and effort data. 29 April 2023 — Several trainings have been conducted in Khanh Hoa province for fishers on best practices for the release of bycatch and ETP species. 1 April 2023 — Catch data made available between March- December 2022; all sharks and turtles caught between June- December were caught in bait net gear and not with handlines and all were recorded as released. 25 March 2023 — An updated press release on the development of a new fishing light system for the Vietnam handline fishery has been published. 11 November 2022 — A summary of a benchmark assessment on North Pacific Ocean blue shark conducted by the ISC has been made available; the assessment concluded that recent fishing mortality is below the sustainable level and there's a low probability that overfishing is occurring. 9 November 2022 — Draft poster in development that demonstrates best practices for shark release at sea. 1 November 2022 — A draft press release on the development of a new fishing light system for the Vietnam handline fishery has been made available. 1 November 2022 — The new "key species" fish identification poster has been distributed across the port authorities. 7 October 2022 — WCPFC NC18th session virtual meeting held; several measures were proposed at the meeting including a proposal to not increase the fishing effort beyond 2008-2010 average annual levels 28 June 2022 — A WPEA harvest strategy workshop was held wherein harvest strategy concepts were explained and discussed with the attendees. FIP partners expect that the discussions will set the stage for adding swordfish/billfish to the tuna management procedures in the long term. 13 June 2022 — Special session of the WCPFC held; an extension of the suspension of observer coverage until the end of 2022 was granted at the meeting. 25 April 2022 — Several articles made available in relation to D-FISH combating IUU fishing 1 March 2022 — FIP is in the process of working on hook removal and fishing cutting line tools to use on incidental catch/ ETP species. 12 November 2021 — Draft productivity and susceptibility analysis for vulnerable species in the NV fishery is swordfish underway 3 May 2021 — E-mail exchange with PacificCommunity confirming that the delivery of billfish catch data to the WCPFC has been resumed. 29 April 2021 — Ongoing FIP outreach; fish ID posters initiative 23 April 2021 — Sea Delight attended the 10th Vietnam Tuna Fishery Annual Catch Estimates Workshop (VTFACE-10), as an observer 1 March 2021 — Report on the assessment of the use and current status of circle hooks in Vietnam tuna fisheries 15 February 2021 — WCPFC approves extension of covid-19 related decisions until May 2021. 22 October 2020 — WCPFC approves extension of covid-19 related decisions until February 2021. 1 March 2020 — Two vessels involved in the COPPA program participated from C-hook trials in the parent tuna handline fishery ( see Press release) 23 February 2020 — Press release detailing VMS coverage 30 September 2019 — Six fishing trips to test the COPPA app were successfully completed in Nha Trang (Khan Hoa province). 1 September 2019 — Sea Delight and other stakeholders presented a letter to the Northern Committee of the WCPFC in September 2019, supporting the harvest strategy proposal presented by the USA delegation. 30 June 2019 — In three meetings led by WWF and WWF Hong Kong, fifteen vessels have signed on for actual onboard C-hook trials with detailed voluntary catch-by-gear catch reports. 8 February 2019 — Press release on the COPPA app design and trial version 14 December 2018 — Letter submitted to the WCPFC requesting improvements in fishery management.
4. Improvements in Fishing Practices and Fishery Management	Nov 22	Verifiable improvement in policy/management and fishing practices 28 November 2022 — A summary report of the 19th Regular Session of the WCPFC has been made available; CMM 2022-02 for North Pacific swordfish has been adopted declaring that the level of fishing effort of Pacific swordfish fisheries shall not increase beyond 2008-2010 average annual levels (attachment K, page 158). 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 3.2.3; monitoring and reporting have improved throughout the fleet 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 3.2.2; several decisions have been made to improve the fishery including implementing logooks, VMS, ETP protections and relationship building with WCPFC. 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 3.2.1; 3-year audit made available- Vietnam is committed to cooperation with WCPFC and the objectives in the harvest strategy. 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 1.2.1; 3-year audit made available; harvest strategy is responsive to the state of the stock. 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 2.1.2; 3-year audit made available; sharks have not been identified as a primary species. 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 2.2.3; secondary species have been identified. 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 2.5.2 & 2.5.3; partial ecosystem strategy is available and the fishery is low impact. 2 June 2020 — Increase in MSC PI score 1.2.3; Relevant information regarding the stock abundance, fishery removals and fleet structure and other data are available to support the harvest strategy 2 June 2020 — Increase in MSC PI score 3.1.2; SG80 is considered achieved now that the Tuna Fishery Consultation Council (TFCC) is considered to be more operational 2 June 2020 — Increase in MSC PI score 3.1.3; The new Fisheries Law includes specific references to both the precautionary approach and the ecosystem approach for fisheries management in Article 5 2 June 2020 — Increase in MSC PI score 3.1.1; The new Fisheries Law calls for Vietnam to cooperate with conservation and management of aquatic resources in international waters 2 April 2020 — The WCPFC has adopted a harvest strategy for the North Pacific swordfish stock 30 September 2019 — COPPA app was successfully completed in Nha Trang (Khan Hoa province) pilot with catch events recorded. The app will continue to be fine-tuned to improve photo resolution for faster mapping. Implementation to expand to other provinces 1 October 2018 — Vietnam has issued a mandatory catch certificate in Vietnamese language that all swordfish/tuna vessels must complete and submit to the Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish) in order to unload and sell their products.
5. Improvements on the Water	May 22	Verifiable improvement on the water 16 May 2022 — Increase to PI 2.3.1; ETP species have been identified: blue shark, bigeye thresher, olive ridley sea turtle, green sea turtle, and devil rays.
6. MSC certification (optional)	—	MSC certificate made public