Ben Tre working to combat IUU fishing

Fishing vessels docking at Ninh Chu port of Ninh Thuan (Photo: VNA)

Ben Tre (VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is stepping up measures to address bottlenecks in fighting irregular, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, in keeping with recommendations from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The province will strive to put an end to illegal fishing by local vessels in foreign waters by June 30, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Buoi said.

The department has also joined hands with relevant agencies to conduct regular inspections and keep a close watch on the implementation of measures to counter IUU fishing.

Local agencies were asked to further disseminate anti-IUU fishing regulations, intensify the supervision of fishing activities, and impose hefty punishment on violators.

All boats are required to install a vessel monitoring system by the end of March, so that off-shore vessels are traceable.

The European Commission (EC) has made a positive assessment of Vietnam’s fight against IUU fishing following two inspections in the past three years since it gave a “yellow card” to the country’s export of aquatic products to Europe.

Countries that fail to meet EC standards are given a “yellow card” followed by a “green card” if problems are resolved, or a “red card” if they are not. A red card can lead to a trade ban on aquatic products./.