Binh Dinh (VNA) – The south-central coastal province of Binh Dinh will provide one-time financial support for the installation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) for boats that are 12-15 metres in length, as part of the efforts to clamp down on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Under the resolution adopted at the 18th meeting of the provincial People’s Council on September 27, the province will fund 50% of the costs for purchasing and installing the equipment for each fishing vessel, but the amount should not exceed 10 million VND (over 400 USD) per device.
Ship owners, who are able to show their vessel registration and technical safety certificates and valid fishing licence, should send dossiers to competent authorities to request for support no later than December 31.
According to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Phuc, although strict measures against IUU fishing had been rolled out over the past time, Binh Dinh still recorded increasing numbers of violations, primarily among the vessels with a maximum length of 15 metres which are not required to install the VMS devices.
He described the financial support as a special policy to prevent local boats from infringing foreign waters.
The province is now home to 218 vessels measuring between 12 and 15 metres, most of which are operating in the southern fishing ground. To date, the VMS have been installed on 148 boats./.
