Kien Giang works hard on supervising origin tracing of fish catches

Kien Giang (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has focused on strictly monitoring the output and origin tracing of catches at fishing ports in the locality in preparation for the 5th inspection of the European Commission (EC) on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing at the end of the second quarter of 2024.

Accordingly, attention has been paid to closely controlling the volume of seafood harvested in local fishing grounds, ensuring both source tracing and favourable conditions for fishermen's operations. 

At the same time, the provincial authorities have strictly handled vessels that did not enter designated ports for seafood unloading to evade law enforcement.

Activities of fishing vessels at private and traditional ports have been closely monitored to ensure compliance with IUU fishing regulations.

From late March 2024, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will organise five training courses in the monitoring of seafood production and origin tracing for civil servants in the fisheries sector; those working for management boards of fishing ports, fishing vessel registrations centres, border posts; and representatives of 155 fish ports in the locality.

From mid-March to late April 2024, the department will establish inspection teams to check the management of catch output and origin tracing. These teams will work with the local fisheries dub-department, border stations, and authorities of districts and communes, and fish ports in this work.

Fishing vessels engaged in illegal fishing activities and those at risk of violating regulations on illegal fishing will be closely monitored.
 
The department has coordinated with the provincial Department of Industry and Trade and local authorities to review enterprises that are exporting seafood to the European market to ensure that their documents are complete and legal, and strictly address any violations./.