Nghe An tightens control over fishing activities hinh anh 1Illustrative image (Source: baonghean.vn)
Nghe An (VNA) – Border guards in the central coastal province of Nghe An have strengthened patrols and tightened control over fishing activities at sea as part of efforts to prevent fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, contributing to persuading the European Commission to remove the “yellow card” against Vietnamese seafood.

Along with increasing sea patrol, officers and soldiers of Cua Lo-Ben Thuy border post have actively popularised legal regulations regarding fishing activities among fishermen, ship owners and captains of boats.

They have diversified communications forms, including delivering leaflets, radio broadcasting, and meetings to enhance the effectiveness. As a result, fishermen's awareness about IUU issues has been enhanced remarkably. 

Nghe An currently has 3,469 fishing vessels with total capacity of 654,224 CV, including 1,760 large vessels.

This year, Nghe An aims to complete the installation of vessel monitoring system (VMS) on all vessels, and ensuring all vessels have necessary documents and licences before operating at sea.

At the same time, the movements of vessels in ports have also been monitored, along with the origin of origin of seafood.

Colonel Ho Quyet Thang, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Border Guard High Command of Nghe An said that thanks to the efforts, the number of local fishing boats violating Fisheries Law and IUU fishing prevention and control regulation has reduced considerably.

So far, the border guard force of the province has handled 69 violation cases involving 103 vessels, collecting nearly 730 million VND (31,129 USD) in fine.

Colonel Thang said that in the time to come, the force will continue to effectively operate inter-sectoral inspection teams at local fishing ports, while coordinating with relevant agencies to control the origin of aquatic products.

On October 23, 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued a "yellow card" warning to Vietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing.

The commission is scheduled to conduct an inspection over IUU fishing in Vietnam in June 2023./.
VNA