Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Conservation is key tosustainable development of fisheries resources, Deputy Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development (MARD) Phung Duc Tien has said.
So far, the target of making detailed planning for 16 marinereserves in 2020 has been completed, but only 12 of them have been formed andoperated, or 75 percent, the deputy minister said at a recent conference inHanoi to review the pogramme to protect and develop fisheries resources and theplanning of Vietnam marine reserves to 2020.
He noted that a number of effective operating marine reservessuch as Cu Lao Cham in the central province of Quang Nam have produced goodecological effectiveness as well as tourism values.
He held that in order to recover and develop fisheriesresources in a sustainable manner, it is necessary to reduce total annualseafood catch from 3.9 million tonnes at present to 2.8 million tonnes.
The fisheries sector should restructure exploitationactivities with specific regulations on catch quota, numbers of fishing vesselsand fishing forms.
Le Tran Nguyen Hung, deputy head of the Department of AquaticResources Conservation and Development under the Directorate of Fisheries saidthat as of September 2020, the total area of water and islands designated asmarine reserves reached 213,400 hectares, below the set target of 270,271 ha.
He pointed to problems such as the shortage of humanresources and equipment serving the restoration and preservation of sea, while violationsof regulations on exploitation and protection of aquatic resources areincreasing.
In the 2012-2019 period, more than 43,700 violations in thefield were detected with fire of over 134 billion VND.
He added that forms of fishing that badly affect marineresources have reduced, and the fleet of large capacity fishing vessels hasexpanded thanks to the State’s supportive policy./.
VNA
