Illustrative image (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Vietnam has made sustained efforts to prevent illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in order to persuade the European Commission(EC) to withdraw its “yellow-card” warning soon.
Statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers(VASEP) showed that 62 seafood companies have committed to fighting illegalfishing to bolster exports to Europe.
Apart from investing heavily in fishing vessels, seafood companies have paidattention to purchasing materials for processing from fishing ports.
According to VASEP,there are only 3,000 Vietnamese fishing vessels installed with Movimarsatellite geo-positioning devices. The Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment ordered vessels of 24 metres in length and over to be equipped withMovimar devices, and the installation must be completed before October thisyear.
The ministry also asked coastal localities to take specific measures to intensifythe supervision at fishing ports.
Besides, Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam said the implementation of the cruisetracking device project must be accelerated to prevent illegal fishing.
On October 23, 2017, the EC issued a “yellow card”warning to Vietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progressin the fight against IUU fishing.
A working delegation from the EC’s General Directorate for MaritimeAffairs and Fisheries visited Vietnam from May 16-24 to inspect the country’simplementation of the EC’s nine recommendations related to the fight againstIUU fishing.
The nine recommendations included revisions to the legal framework toensure compliance with international and regional rules, applicable to theconservation and management of fisheries resources; ensuring the effectiveimplementation and enforcement of the country’s revised laws; and strengtheningthe effective implementation of international rules and management measures.
The EC inspectors will return to Vietnam in January2019 to review the country’s progress in addressing its “yellow card”warnings.-VNA
VNA
