Ha Tinh (VNA) – With a coastline of over 137km and many large fishing grounds, the central province of Ha Tinh is making concerted efforts in cracking down on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, toward having the "yellow card" warning by the European Commission (EC) removed.
Nguyen Tong Thang, Deputy Director of the provincial Sub-Department of Fisheries, said the province has achieved positive results in the fight against IUU fishing, including wide dissemination of legal regulations among fishermen and owners of fishing vessels, drastic inspection over vessels, and strict handling of violations.
At present, all 100 fishing vessels in the offshore fishing area of Ha Tinh have been equipped with journey monitoring equipment.
So far, the province has not found any vessel that crosses the border illegally at sea.
The local border guards also partnered with relevant agencies and localities to raise fishermen’s awareness of fighting IUU fishing.
They also distributed thousands of leaflets, handed over national flags and life jackets to fishermen.
In the near future, the local competent agencies will continue stepping up the registration, inspection, and licensing of seafood exploitation, updating all data of vessels, and monitoring all fishing vessels operating at sea round the clock through the vessel monitoring systems to detect violations, contributing to the country's joint efforts to have the "yellow card" warning by the EC lifted./.