Conference seeks ways to improve effectiveness of fishery

Phu Yen (VNA) – Local authorities, seafood producers
and fishermen from 28 coastal cities and provinces gathered in a conference on
May 16 to seek ways to improve the effectiveness of fishing as well as seafood
processing and distribution in 2020.
The event was held in Tuy Hoa city, the south central
province of Phu Yen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and
the provincial People’s Committee.
Participants discussed how seafood is traded, processed and
preserved currently and measures to improve the value of seafood products, quality
management and safety control. They also chalked out ways to boost export of
Vietnamese seafood.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien requested the ministry’s agencies and
local administrations to provide fishermen with all possible conditions and
support them to go fishing offshore.
The Directorate of Fisheries and the localities must take
urgent 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 and
surveys of aquatic resources and provide forecast of fisheries to help fishermen
exploit them more effectively, the deputy minister noted.
He went on to urge the coastal localities to strengthen monitoring
of their fishing ships, increase investment in infrastructure and logistics
services for the fishery sector and apply advanced technology to seafood exploitation,
processing and preservation while supporting producers in developing brands and
distributing their products.
Data of the Directorate of Fisheries shows that there are
more 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 million
tonnes of seafood. Exports of fishery products are set to reach 10 billion USD./.