Binh Thuan working to tackle IUU fishing

Binh Thuan's fishing vessels (Photo: VNA)

Binh Thuan (VNA) - The south-central province of Binh Thuan has asked localities to promptly complete the installation of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) on all fishing vessels and acquire the necessary data as part of efforts to tackle illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The province asked its Fisheries Sub-Department to coordinate closely with the border guard force and fisheries surveillance forces to strengthen patrols and inspections to strictly manage the activities of fishing vessels. No vessel is to head offshore without a VMS.

The sub-department has also coordinated with the border guard force and neighbouring localities to stop fishing vessels from other provinces operating illegally in foreign waters.

According to the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Department, no fishing vessels or fishermen from the province have violated foreign waters since July 2019.

As of February 2, nearly 93 percent of local fishing vessels had installed a VMS.

The European Commission (EC) gave a “yellow card” warning to Vietnam’s fisheries and seafood exports to Europe in October 2017 due to IUU fishing concerns. The Government and localities have introduced a raft of measures to improve the situation./.

VNA