Southern localities work hard on fighting IUU fishing

Soldiers of the border guard station at Duong Dong sea port in Kien Giang province are actively in raising local fishermen's awareness of law implementation related to IUU fishing (Photo: VNA).

Ba Ria – Vung Tau (VNA) - Nguyen Van Tho, Chairman of the People's Committee of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, chaired a meeting on December 11 with representatives of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and related departments and sectors to discuss solutions to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

According to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Huynh Son Thai, the enforcement of laws related to the problem in the locality still lacks comprehension, the responsibility of organisations and individuals in performing the work remains limited, and there are still delays in investigating, verifying and handling of cases in the field.  

The provincial People’s Committee requested relevant authorities to keep close control of the fleet of fishing boats, including the total number of vessels, their registration, operational licences, installation of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), and information updates on the National Fisheries Database (VNFishbase). 

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was demanded to collaborate with relevant agencies to implement strictly the confirmation and certification of the origin of aquatic products.

The deadline for completing all the tasks is no later than April 2024.

Over the recent times, border guards in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang have taken a series of measure to combat IUU fishing as part of the efforts to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnam’s seafood exports lifted.

The provincial Border Guard Command considers the work as a regular and important task, focusing on patrolling, inspecting, and controlling fishing vessels entering and leaving ports with the engagement of thousands of officers and soldiers.

It has also coordinated with Coast Guard Region 4 and Naval Region 5, the provincial fisheries surveillance force, other relevant forces, and local authorities in supervising and sharing information on the situation to improve the effectiveness of the fight against IUU fishing.

Attention has been paid to strictly managing, inspecting, and controlling fishing vessels with a "high risk" of violating foreign waters./.

VNA