A fishing vessel heads out to sea in Quảng Ngãi Province. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM City –Việt Nam's 28 coastal localities have been intensifying their efforts to prevent and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, with the ultimate goal of completely eradicating all violations related to IUU fishing by the end of March 2023.

Since the beginning of this year, the south-central province of Ninh Thuận has implemented stringent measures to educate local fishermen on legal regulations regarding IUU fishing prevention and control. This initiative aims to ensure the safety of fishermen during their operations at sea.

Đặng Văn Tín, head of the Ninh Thuận Fisheries Sub-Department, said the province plans to organise ten training courses for about 600 fishermen to provide them with legal knowledge. It will strictly control its operations at sea and ports and handle violations.

Meanwhile, the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu is also carrying out an IUU fishing combat campaign with coordination from relevant agencies.

A provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development representative said that legal fisheries regulations were popularised to local fishermen through mass media, leaflets, and legal handbooks.

Lieutenant General Nguyễn Trọng Bình, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and head of the Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Prevention and Control of the Ministry of National Defence, said that over the years, units under the Navy and the Vietnam Coast Guard had deployed forces and vessels to perform IUU fishing prevention and control activities, asking 844 Vietnamese fishing boats heading to foreign waters to return to Vietnamese waters to avoid committing violations of the Fisheries Law.

To successfully complete the 180-day campaign on IUU fishing combat and to prepare for an inspection team from the European Commission in March, many localities are supporting their fishermen to finalise legal procedures to enable them to operate at sea.

Nguyễn Minh Cảnh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Bến Tre province, said that the majority of local fishermen had shown strong performance in implementing IUU fishing prevention and control regulations, including the installation of a vessel monitoring system (VMS) on the boats, making boat registration and operational logs.

Southern Bến Tre Province is one of the localities with the most fishing boats and fishermen. However, the province has not issued new licenses for building boats using raking nets while cancelling the registration of 402 vessels that are out of use.

Lê Quốc Anh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Bến Tre, said that the IUU fishing combat is also part of the province's efforts to protect the value and reputation of its fisheries products.

The province has provided various support to owners of vessels that show strong performance in the work while publishing the names of those with violations through the media. — VNS