Fishing boats at Ba Hon Estuary in Kien Luong district, Kien Giang province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam will finish installing monitoring devices on nearly 3,000 offshore fishing boats in early 2019, a move to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to the Directorate of Fisheries.
These devices are compulsory for vessels with length of 24 metres or more under European Commission (EC) regulations.
The Directorate of Fisheries said Vietnam has sufficient legal tools and strictly enforced rules on the management, licensing and registration of fishing boats, and for ensuring the security and safety of those vessels at sea.
It has also issued resolutions and mechanisms to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure security and safety for fishing boats at sea.
The EC imposed a “yellow card” warning on Vietnam in October last year after the country had failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing.
Countries that fail to meet EC standards are given a "yellow card", followed by a "green card" if the problems are resolved, or a "red card" if they are not. A red card can lead to a trade ban on fishery products.
A delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries has made a fact-finding tour of some coastal provinces of Vietnam to inspect efforts to address IUU fishing.-VNA
VNA
