All of the offshore fishing boats measuring at least 15 metres in length have been equipped with monitoring devices. (Photo: VNA) The “yellow card” imposed by the EC has hindered thedevelopment of the domestic fishery sector as well as the country’s seafoodprocessing and export. Therefore, the entire industry is working hard towardsthe removal of the warning.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)and the aquatic sector have been striving to implement the 2017 Law onFisheries and combat IUU fishing.
Since the imposition of the “yellow card” warning in2017, all of the offshore fishing boats measuring at least 15 metres in lengthhave been equipped with monitoring devices.
Many boats that committed violations of regulations have beenstrictly punished with their operation licences revoked, either temporarily orpermanently.
General Secretary of the Vietnam Association ofSeafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said the associationhas rolled out concerted solutions in an effort to remove the warning, addingthat it has coordinated with localities to hold dialogues with fishermen,helping them to remove obstacles in the IUU combat.
According to Hoe, apart from Europe, other markets such as Japan have also imposed the fishing rules, which has posedchallenges to domestic businesses.
Given this, the VASEP suggested the ministry investmore in infrastructure at fishing ports, and digitalise the fishery sector, hestressed, explaining that digital data can attest efforts by fishermen and thesector in this regard.
Hoe also emphasised the need to change the mindsetof fishermen in the new era – digitalisation – in order to reprieve the fishingban.
The VASEP has also accompanied the ministry in thecommunication work to raise public awareness against IUU fishing, he said, addingthat the association joins the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development ofthe Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre to present 1,000 notebooks with relevantcontents to local students.
An EC delegation will visit Vietnam at the end ofOctober to inspect the fight of IUU fishing.
Last year, Vietnam earned over 1.4 billion USD from fisheryexports to the EU, with 420 million USD from seafood and 980 million USD from aquaculture./.
VNA
