Illustrative image (Source: VNA)BenTre (VNA) – The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of theMekong Delta province of Ben Tre recently held three training courses to raisepublic awareness of the necessity to stop illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Lap,local authorities have worked hard on the monitoring and inspection of fishingactivities at sea as part of efforts to tackle the EuropeanCommission's IUU “yellow card”.
The local agriculture sector has examined regulations on the management of fishingships, tightened the management of shipbuilding enterprises and issued rules ontechnical dossiers for the registration of fishing ships.
The efficiency of inspection offices at fishing portswill also be improved, towards stopping local ships from fishing illegally, andfacilitating the certification of seafood origin, Lap said.
Communication work will be enhanced to popularise laws via various forms, headded.
Nguyen Van Buoi, Vice Director of the provincial Departmentof Agriculture and Rural Development said the locality would continue equippingmodern long-distance communication devices on offshore fishing boats.
Vietnam was served with a yellow card warning bythe EU in September for failing to progress in fighting IUU fishing and hasbeen offered the opportunity to rectify the situation within six months.
The "yellow card" is followed by a"green card" if issues are resolved or a "red card" if theyaren’t. A “red card” can lead to a trade ban on fishery products.
The EU plans to assess Vietnam’s efforts tofight IUU fishing in April.
On December 13, 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc issued Directive 45/CT-TTg on urgent tasks following the warning.
The whole political system, from the central tolocal level, and fishermen of Vietnam have taken actions to combat IUU fishing.
There have been an array of solutions, includingsupplementing anti-IUU fishing regulations to legal documents, enforcing issuedregulations, disseminating solutions to fishermen and relevant parties,enhancing cooperation with coastal and island countries to prevent IUU fishingand holding dialogues to update the EU on Vietnam’s efforts to improvefisheries management.
As a result, illegal fishing in foreign watersby Vietnamese boats has declined considerably, said the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development at a press conference in March.-VNA
VNA
