Soc Trang disseminates legal information to reduce IUU fishing

Fishing vessels (Photo: VNA)

Soc Trang (VNA) – Authorised agencies and the Border Guard of the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang are taking concerted measures to prevent local fishermen from engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as an effort to have the European Commission (EC)’s ‘yellow card’ warning on Vietnamese seafood removed.

The provincial Border Guard is overseeing over 30,000sq.km of sea and a fleet of 366 offshore fishing vessels and more than 640 others operating in coastal waters. Over the past five years, since the EC issued the warning, no fishing vessels of the province have been found violating foreign waters. None of them have involved in brokering and illegally transporting people by the sea.

The positive results are attributable to efforts made by the border guard force to popularise knowledge, laws, and foreign countries’ strict punishments on IUU fishing violations to local fishermen.

Border guard units have intensified inspections and patrols, while closely supervising the installation and operation of monitoring systems (VMS) on fishing boats.

Le Van Cong, captain of the ship ST 91199 TS, said that when fishing offshore, border guards regularly remind them to avoid IUU fishing through the communication system, so that the crew members always strictly abide by the regulations and do not violate foreign waters./.

VNA