Authorities examine a fishing vessel (smaller one) at sea. (Source: VNA)Sen.Lt. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, Deputy Chief of the Staff of the Quang Ngai BorderGuard Command, said the force has coordinated with the province’ssub-department of fisheries to frequently inspect and examine activities of allfishing vessels operating off Quang Ngai’s coast.
Some violatingvessels and their owners have been handled, he noted, adding that authorities havealso met each vessel owner, captain, and crew member to disseminate detailed informationabout IUU fishing and penalties to educate them in law adherence.
By theend of July, 2,934 local fishing vessels with the minimum length of 15m hadbeen installed with vessel monitoring systems (VMS). Among the 207 remainders,128 have remained idle while 55 others have operated in otherlocalities and not returned to Quang Ngai for years, according to the provincialfisheries sub-department.
Ownersof the remaining vessels have pledged to equip their vehicles with VMS in the comingtime, and they will be strictly handled if they still work without VMS, saidDirector of the sub-department Nguyen Van Muoi.
Despitestrong management measures, some vehicles without registration or fishing licencesstill operate at sea. Meanwhile, via VMS, authorities have detected 81 vesselsworking beyond the boundary at sea and 260 losing contact for over 10 days sincethe start of 2023. They have imposed fines of over 500 million VND (21,100 USD).
To joinnationwide efforts to remove the EC’s “yellow card” warning, Vice Chairman ofthe Quang Ngai People’s Committee Tran Phuoc Hien recently ordered agencies,units, and localities in the province to intensify the prescribed measure to put a halt to illegal fishing.
HoTrong Phuong, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said Quang Ngai has been properly carrying out the EC’srecommendations issued in the previous inspections, and is prompting efforts tocomplete implementation before the EC delegation’s coming trip.
The provinceis determined to join hands with other coastal localities nationwide to removethe “yellow card” for Vietnam’s fisheries sector, he emphasised.
The ECissued a “yellow card” warning for Vietnam in terms of IUU fishing in 2017. The "yellow card" is followed by a "greencard" if the problem is resolved or a "red card" if it is not. A “redcard” may lead to a ban on aquatic exports to the EU./.
VNA
