Authorised agencies inspect fishing boats in Ham Luong river of Ben Tre province (Photo: VNA)Ben Tre (VNA) - Eight Mekong Delta and south central coastalprovinces in Vietnam have signed a coordination agreement on the management offishing vessels in a bid to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card”warning on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing lifted.
They include the Mekong Deltaprovinces of Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, andKien Giang; and the south central province of Binh Thuan.
Speaking at a conference in BenTre on September 19, Nguyen Chi Quang, deputy commander of the province’sBorder Guard Command, said that the signing of the agreement would put measuresin place to prevent and resolve fishing boats and their crew committingviolations when operating on the provincial waters involved.
The agreement also aimed to putan end to illegal fishing and work towards the removal of the EC’s yellow card warningon Vietnamese seafood.
According to Quang, besidesinformation exchanges, the participating provinces will coordinate to educatethe public on the Law on Fisheries, inspect fishing boats and crew members andaddress violations.
Vice Chairman of the provincial BenTre People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Lap said that the eight provinces are home to31,133 fishing vessels, including 14,114 offshore boats.
Most of them have abided by the lawsof Vietnam and surrounding countries. However, some fishermen have been fishingillegally in foreign waters for greater economic gains.
Prior to the EC’s warning, noneof the involved provinces had mechanisms in place to coordinate and exchangeinformation, making it difficult to prevent and deal with IUU fishing.
Luu Van Huy, Director of theVietnam Fisheries Resource Surveillance, said there are some 109,000 fishingboats nationwide, including 28,600 offshore boats, with last year’s catchreaching some 3.2 million tonnes of fish.
However, according to Huy, therapid increase in the number of fishing boats compared with the current fisheryresources has created a negative impact, particularly with local fishing boatsoperating in foreign waters.
As many as 95 illegal fishingcases involving 156 boats have been reported since the beginning of the year.Many of these cases involve fishing boats from Binh Thuan, Tien Giang, Ben Tre,Bac Lieu, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau.
As such, the coordination amongthese localities has significantly improved and is now in line with therecommendations of the European Union, Huy said.
The EC issued a yellow cardwarning to Vietnam last year, after the country failed to demonstratesufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing worldwide. While themeasure was only considered a warning, which should not technically affect theEC’s trade policy, the Vietnamese fishing industry was concerned that theyellow card would seriously harm the reputation of Vietnamese seafoodworldwide, and thus weaken sales.
To address IUU fishingactivities, the EC evaluates exporting countries. Countries that fail to meetEC standards are issued a “yellow card” warning, followed by a “green card” ifissues are resolved or a “red card” if they are not. A red card can lead to atrade ban on fishery products.
According to the EC’srequirements, the Vietnamese fisheries sector had to implement ninerecommendations in six months from October 23, 2017 through until April 23,2018.
The EC also wanted Vietnam toissue sanctions and increase the level of sanctions against IUU fishing, whichshould be written in the revised Law on Fisheries, and give concrete evidenceproving Vietnam’s efforts in the fight against IUU fishing.
A working delegation from theEC’s General Directorate for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries visited Vietnamfrom May 16-24 to inspect the country’s implementation of theserecommendations. However, Vietnam failed to carry out all nine recommendationswell.
The EC inspectors will return toVietnam in January 2019 to review the country’s progress in addressing itsyellow card warnings.–VNA
They include the Mekong Deltaprovinces of Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, andKien Giang; and the south central province of Binh Thuan.
Speaking at a conference in BenTre on September 19, Nguyen Chi Quang, deputy commander of the province’sBorder Guard Command, said that the signing of the agreement would put measuresin place to prevent and resolve fishing boats and their crew committingviolations when operating on the provincial waters involved.
The agreement also aimed to putan end to illegal fishing and work towards the removal of the EC’s yellow card warningon Vietnamese seafood.
According to Quang, besidesinformation exchanges, the participating provinces will coordinate to educatethe public on the Law on Fisheries, inspect fishing boats and crew members andaddress violations.
Vice Chairman of the provincial BenTre People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Lap said that the eight provinces are home to31,133 fishing vessels, including 14,114 offshore boats.
Most of them have abided by the lawsof Vietnam and surrounding countries. However, some fishermen have been fishingillegally in foreign waters for greater economic gains.
Prior to the EC’s warning, noneof the involved provinces had mechanisms in place to coordinate and exchangeinformation, making it difficult to prevent and deal with IUU fishing.
Luu Van Huy, Director of theVietnam Fisheries Resource Surveillance, said there are some 109,000 fishingboats nationwide, including 28,600 offshore boats, with last year’s catchreaching some 3.2 million tonnes of fish.
However, according to Huy, therapid increase in the number of fishing boats compared with the current fisheryresources has created a negative impact, particularly with local fishing boatsoperating in foreign waters.
As many as 95 illegal fishingcases involving 156 boats have been reported since the beginning of the year.Many of these cases involve fishing boats from Binh Thuan, Tien Giang, Ben Tre,Bac Lieu, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau.
As such, the coordination amongthese localities has significantly improved and is now in line with therecommendations of the European Union, Huy said.
The EC issued a yellow cardwarning to Vietnam last year, after the country failed to demonstratesufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing worldwide. While themeasure was only considered a warning, which should not technically affect theEC’s trade policy, the Vietnamese fishing industry was concerned that theyellow card would seriously harm the reputation of Vietnamese seafoodworldwide, and thus weaken sales.
To address IUU fishingactivities, the EC evaluates exporting countries. Countries that fail to meetEC standards are issued a “yellow card” warning, followed by a “green card” ifissues are resolved or a “red card” if they are not. A red card can lead to atrade ban on fishery products.
According to the EC’srequirements, the Vietnamese fisheries sector had to implement ninerecommendations in six months from October 23, 2017 through until April 23,2018.
The EC also wanted Vietnam toissue sanctions and increase the level of sanctions against IUU fishing, whichshould be written in the revised Law on Fisheries, and give concrete evidenceproving Vietnam’s efforts in the fight against IUU fishing.
A working delegation from theEC’s General Directorate for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries visited Vietnamfrom May 16-24 to inspect the country’s implementation of theserecommendations. However, Vietnam failed to carry out all nine recommendationswell.
The EC inspectors will return toVietnam in January 2019 to review the country’s progress in addressing itsyellow card warnings.–VNA
VNA
