Ben Tre (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien has asked the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre to strictly manage its fishing fleet in an effort to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Tien, who is also Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for IUU Fishing Prevention and Control, had a working session with the Standing Board of the Ben Tre provincial Party Committee on IUU fishing prevention and control on July 18.
He said that Ben Tre has great aquaculture potential but its IUU fishing prevention and control work in the past time has yet to seen progress in areas.
The official asked the province to take drastic measures in the coming time, strengthen management over its fishing fleet, particularly vessels that are prone to violating foreign waters.
Tien requested the province to focus on completing the registration and management of vessels with "Three Nos" (no registration, no examination, no licence); strictly handle violating vessels; strengthen the monitoring of fishing vessels at sea, and properly manage fishing vessels with lost connection of vessel monitoring systems.
Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Buoi said that the provincial People's Committee issued a plan to implement the Party Central Committee Secretariat’s Directive No. 32-CT/TW dated April 10, 2024, on strengthening the Party's leadership and direction on the combat against IUU fishing and the sustainable development of the fisheries sector.
It also issued policies to support vessel owners and signed coordination mechanisms with other provinces in the south, Commands of the Coast Guard Zone 3 and the Coast Guard Zone 4 on IUU fishing control.
To date, 87.82% of the province's fishing vessels have registered, while 289 boats have not registered. The number of licensed vessels accounts for 80.37% of the total while 594 boats have not been re-licensed.
A total of 263 fishing vessels with “ Three Nos” have been registered, reaching 23.54% although they are not required to be registered (vessels with a length of less than 12 metres). For vessels that are required to be registered, 11 owners have submitted technical documents for appraisal and approval.
The number of fishing vessels that have installed vessel monitoring system (VMS) reached 98.62%, while 28 others have not installed VMSs./.
