Ben Tre cracks down on fishing vessels violating foreign waters

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

Ben Tre (VNA) – Vice Chairmanof the Ben Tre People’s Committee Nguyen Minh Canh has requested relevant departments,sectors, and districts in the Mekong Delta province to drastically crackdown on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in a bid to curblocal vessels’ illegal operations in foreign waters.

Canh also asked the provincialDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Department increase its coordination inimplementing the tasks of the fight against IUU fishing, and monitor the number of ships thatare operating or have been stopped operations in Ben Tre province.

According to Colonel Nguyen Chi Quang,Commander of the Border Guard Command of Ben Tre, the force will continue itscommunications work on the issue among fishermen.

The province plans to intensify itsinspection of ships operating at sea via the monitoring system, seriously tackleviolators of the marine bordere, and maintain surveillance at seaports.

Ben Tre now has 2,000 fishing vessels installingmonitoring devices. Since the beginning of 2021 to date, it recorded 2,971 timesof ships losing monitoring signals, 1,644 ship arrivals at ports, and 2,704times of vessels leaving the ports.

According to the provincial Departmentof Agriculture and Rural Development, IUU fishing prevention activities still faceshortcomings, such as the slow handling of ships that lose monitoring signalsand the lack of specialised inspectors./.

VNA