Illustrative image (Source: VNA) New York (VNA) – The US’s Global Policy Journal websitehas said Vietnam may become a model for ASEANcountries in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
An article published by the website on May9 said the threat of a bad report card from the European Union (EU) has alarmedmore than 30,000 Vietnamese commercial trawlers.
It quoted Tony Long, former Director ofthe World Wildlife Fund’s European Policy Office and senior fellow of theGlobal Government Institute, as saying that the EU carding system to drive outillegal fishing is showing it has teeth, adding that countries are terrifiedthat the ultimate sanction, the red card, imposes potentially enormousfinancial sanctions and significant risks.
The article said, citing source as theVietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), that fishingis a cornerstone of Vietnam’s economy and since 2006, the nation has beenglobally ranked among the top 10 exporting countries in fisheries.
Vietnam’s export of fishery products tothe EU and the US range between 1.9 and 2.2 billion USD, and 350 – 400 millionUSD, respectively.
The article said Vietnam’s Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Directorate of Fisheries andVASEP have mandated that all of them take actions to balance fishingcapacity and fishing fleet policy. The new Fisheries Law has been approved bythe National Assembly, including regulations to fight IUU.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued anational action plan to crack down on IUU fishing. As part of this drive, 62 seafood companieshave joined to ensure sustainable practices.
The government has issued several decrees and directives, supplemented IUUfishing regulations to legal documents, enforced regulations, held educationalworkshops for fishermen, enhanced cooperation with coastal and island countriesto prevent IUU fishing and organized regular dialogues with the EU on effortsto improve fisheries management.
Vietnam’s responses also include placingobservers, many of whom are former fishing captains, aboard commercial trawlersto monitor catches.
Additionally, fishing captains have beenencouraged to keep an accurate logbook or registry of catches for inspection orbecome subject to fines up to 2,000 USD and revocation of commercial fishinglicenses.
The article said Hanoi simply does not want to repeat Thailand’s mistakes,where a high percentage of the fishing fleet is unregistered and outside governmentcontrol. Neither does it want to follow its neighbour, Cambodia, and be at theend of the line with a red card from the EU and unable to export fish.
The article said the VietnameseDirectorate of Fisheries has developed a national fishery database thatintegrates data related to fishing vessels including registration, licensing,logbook entries and now uniformly-accepted software (VNFISHBASE) utilised in eightcoastal provinces.
It added that there is a need for morevocational centres to educate fishermen about fishing regulations.
According to the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations (FAO), between 11 and 26 million tonnes offish, or 15 percent of the world catch, are caught illegally every year. As theworld’s biggest fish importer, the EU does not wish to be complicit in theseunsustainable fishing practices.
Since 2012, the EU Commission hasinitiated formal dialogues with several countries, thus the “yellow card”status warning. When significant progress is observed, the commission can endthe dialogue or raise the status to a “green card”. When there is no or littlecompliance, it results in a failing grade - a “red card”, which translates intono exports.-VNA
