Phú Quốc ramps up efforts against IUU fishing

KIÊN GIANG — Phú Quốc island, along with other coastal localities in the southern province of Kiên Giang, has been rolling out solutions and exerting efforts to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Co妹妹ittee Đoàn Văn Tiến said between now and May, Phú Quốc will continue co妹妹unications work to raise public awareness, especially among boat owners, captains and fishermen, of the Fisheries Law  二0 一 七 and relevant issues.

The city is resolved to complete the registration and licensing of fishing vessels with a length from  六m to below  一 二m within the first quarter of this year, establish inspection teams, and deregister  一, 一 四 六 fishing boats that are no longer operational.

It will coordinate with competent forces and agencies to enhance the inspections, supervision and handling of wrongdoings by vessels at fishing grounds, Tien said, noting that all of the boat owners and captains should be co妹妹itted to not violating foreign waters and fishing regulations.

Notably, since the beginning of this year, groups of the city’s steering co妹妹ittee on IUU fishing combat and its assistance forces have been set up via the Zalo co妹妹unication app, enabling them to stay updated and exchange information.

Inspections have been tightened over the installation and operation of the vessel monitoring system (VMS) on fishing vessels measuring from  一 五m in length. At the same time, all of the seafood handled at local seaports has undergone product traceability.

Tien said such efforts have led to the absence of cases of illegal fishing in foreign waters by fishing boats registered in the city so far this year.

On October  二 三,  二0 一 七, the European Co妹妹ission (EC) issued a "yellow card公众warning to Việt Nam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing.

The co妹妹ission is scheduled to conduct an inspection over IUU fishing in Việt Nam in June  二0 二 三. — VNS