Ben Tre (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre has intensively implemented measures to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in anticipation of the fifth working round with the inspection delegation from the European Commission (EC).
Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Minh Canh has required relevant sectors and localities to closely monitor all offshore fishing vessels of the province, and strictly handled those vessels with disrupted VMS connections for 10 days or more while at sea.
The provincial Department of Fisheries has been rushing to complete the granting of fishing licences and registration of fishing vessels while strictly monitoring idle fishing vessels and persuading owners of those vessels to install vessel monitoring systems (VMS) before putting them into operation. It will strive have 100% of local fishing boats registered, inspected, and licensed for exploitation in the upcoming period.
The province has also conducted patrols and inspections with coordination between relevant agencies, and strictly penalising IUU fishing activities in line with regulations.
According to Vice Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Buoi, the regular communication and popularisation of laws and regulations related to fishing activities helps fishermen clearly understand, and voluntarily comply with regulations on combating IUU fishing.
The investigation and verification of information regarding fishing vessels and fishermen violating foreign waters are conducted promptly in accordance with regulations, he said.
Fishery control teams and fishing ports in the locality have strictly followed procedures in managing vessels that enter or leave fishing ports, supervised the loading and unloading of aquatic products, and verified the origin of all seafood at fishing ports.
Since early this year, Ben Tre has recorded no information on local fishing vessels' infringements of foreign waters.
After over six years of developing a responsible fishery industry, Ben Tre has witnessed positive results in this work, especially in managing the local fishing fleet, complying to regulations related to vessel registration, maintaining fishing logbooks, and tracking fishing ships via VMS./.
