July 27, 2021 | 19:20 (GMT+7)
Nam Dinh strives to fight IUU fishing
Vice Chairman of the northern coastal province of Nam Dinh Tran Anh Dung on July 26 requested the provincial border guard forces to strictly monitor the departure of fishing vessels and not to let those that fail to meet all requirements as prescribed go out to sea as an effort to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Dung stressed the need to stop fishing vessels operating without licences and cruise control devices, strictly punish any violations, and arrange personnel on duty around the clock at Ha Lan, Ninh Co and Day ports until the end of 2021 to promptly detect violations of IUU fishing regulations.
According to statistics of the local agricultural sector, as of July 22, only 86.22 percent of the province’s fishing vessels had been equipped with cruise control devices.
Since the beginning of this year, border guards have imposed administrative punishments related to fishing at a total fine of VND 247 million (USD 10,750).
At the conference held by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, participants pointed to the shortcomings and limitations of the local fishery industry in recent years and made proposals to remove difficulties to make the European Commission soon remove the yellow card warning against Vietnam’s seafood industry.
In late 2017, the European Commission issued the yellow card warning to Vietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing.
Countries that fail to meet EC standards are given a "yellow card," followed by a "green card" if the problems are resolved, or a "red card" if they are not. A red card can lead to a trade ban on aquatic products.
Source: VNA