Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s CommitteeDoan Van Tien said between now and May, Phu Quoc will continue thecommunications work to raise public awareness, especially among the boat owners,captains and fishermen, of the Fisheries Law 2017 and relevant issues.
The city is resolved to complete the registrationand licensing of fishing vessels with a length from 6m to below 12m within thefirst quarter of this year, establish inspection teams, and deregister 1,146 fishingboats that are no longer operational.
It will coordinate with competent forces andagencies to enhance the inspections, supervisions and handling of wrongdoingsby vessels at fishing grounds, Tien said, noting that all of the boat ownersand captains should be committed to not violating foreign waters and fishingregulations.
Notably, since the beginning of this year, groups ofthe city’s steering committee on IUU fishing combat and its assistance forceshave been set up via Zalo communication app, enabling them to stay updated and exchangeinformation.
Inspections have been tightened over the installationand operation of the vessel monitoring system (VMS) on fishing vesselsmeasuring from 15m in length. At the same time, all of the seafood handled atlocal seaports has been undergone product traceability.
Tien said such efforts have led to the absence of cases of illegal fishing in foreign waters by fishing boats registered in the city so far this year.
On October 23, 2017, the European Commission (EC) issueda "yellow card" warning to Vietnam, after the country failed todemonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing.
The commission is scheduled to conduct an inspectionover IUU fishing in Vietnam in June 2023./.
VNA
