
Phu Yen (VNA) – Local authorities, seafood producersand fishermen from 28 coastal cities and provinces gathered in a conference onMay 16 to seek ways to improve the effectiveness of fishing as well as seafoodprocessing and distribution in 2020.
The event was held in Tuy Hoa city, the south centralprovince of Phu Yen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development andthe provincial People’s Committee.
Participants discussed how seafood is traded, processed andpreserved currently and measures to improve the value of seafood products, qualitymanagement and safety control. They also chalked out ways to boost export ofVietnamese seafood.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Phung Duc Tien requested the ministry’s agencies andlocal administrations to provide fishermen with all possible conditions andsupport them to go fishing offshore.
The Directorate of Fisheries and the localities must takeurgent measures to implement recommendations made by the EU in order to have the EU’s “yellow card” warning lifted, and adopt supportive policies to develop the fishery sector, he said.
The directorate was also tasked to conduct more studies andsurveys of aquatic resources and provide forecast of fisheries to help fishermenexploit them more effectively, the deputy minister noted.
He went on to urge the coastal localities to strengthen monitoringof their fishing ships, increase investment in infrastructure and logisticsservices for the fishery sector and apply advanced technology to seafood exploitation,processing and preservation while supporting producers in developing brands anddistributing their products.
Data of the Directorate of Fisheries shows that there aremore than 88,100 fishing boats of 6 metres or longer registered nationwide,including over 31,400 with a length of more than 15 metres.
This year, Vietnam targets to exploit about 3.68 milliontonnes of seafood. Exports of fishery products are set to reach 10 billion USD./.