Quang Ngai (VNA) – The central province of Quang Ngai has reaped encouraging results in the crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing partly thanks to various communications and awareness measures taken by local border guards.
To improve fishermen’s adherence to law, information dissemination has been boosted through the “border guard loudspeaker” model, in which soldiers ride motorbikes attached with loudspeakers to reach every fishery port, wharf, and residential area to spread all the necessary information to locals.
Through loudspeakers, border guards frequently remind fishermen to prepare documentation before beginning their fishing trips and keeping their vessel monitoring systems (VMS) turned on, along with domestic and international penalties for violations, said Do Thi Nhu, a resident in Binh Chau commune of Binh Son district.
After one year, the “border guard loudspeaker” model has helped change fishermen’s thought and behaviour.
Senior Lieutenant Phan Dai Duong, head of the Sa Huynh border checkpoint, said Sa Huynh was previously a hot spot of IUU fishing in Quang Ngai. Facing that fact, border guards have stepped up disseminating legal regulations to each residential area and each household. As a result, the rate of violating vessels has been brought down substantially.
Recently, some border guard posts in Quang Ngai have also installed cameras to monitor vessels passing local estuaries so as to detect and deal with the exploitation and trading of seafood with unclear origin in a timely manner.
The move has helped enhance vessel owners and captains’ adherence to legal rules and also given warnings against law infringements, Duong said, adding that it is also useful to both modernising patrol activities and controlling vehicles.
In addition, border guards have strengthened monitoring and examining vessels through VMS, managing vehicles at fishery ports, as well as certifying seafood origin.
Colonel Tran Tuan Anh, Commander of the Quang Ngai Border Guard Command, said to eradicate violations in foreign waters, the force has increased communications to raise fishermen's awareness of IUU fishing by distributing leaflets, directly meeting them to give information and explanation, installing cameras at estuaries, and implementing the “border guard loudspeaker” model.
He went on to say that law enforcement together with patrol and examination at sea, estuaries, and fishery ports has been augmented to detect and prevent wrongdoings in a timely manner. The force will resolutely handle administrative violations in the fisheries sector in accordance with the Government decree in this regard./.
