Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has asked ministries, sectors and 28 coastal localities to focus on implementing directions and guidelines relating to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing prevention, thus effectively realising European Council’s recommendations in the field.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

According to a notification released by the Government Office regarding the conclusion of the Deputy PM during the fourth meeting of the National Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Prevention that took place on 8 September, Dung called for efforts to put an end to fishing activities in foreign waters, which is a condition for consideration of the removal of “yellow card”.

The head of the National Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Prevention also requested the Ministry of Defence to strengthen patrol and supervision in border waters, while coordinating with ministries, sectors and the 28 localities to control and inspect fishing vessels to make sure they have full legal documents and equipment. Meanwhile, the Public Security needs tofocus on inspecting and handling violations in the field.

The Deputy PM urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to speed up negotiations and signing of agreements on demarcation of special economic zones between Viet Nam and other countries to lay a foundation for the ensuring of security and safety for fishing activities. All disputes on the waters should be settled on the basis of diplomatic negotiations, he stressed.

The official also asked ministries, sectors and the People’s Committees in the 28 coastal localities to coordinate with authorised agencies to investigate and handle violations in fisheries, especially illegal fishing on foreign waters.

The Ministry of Information and Communications should promptly prepare plans to give free support and frequency cost to fishing vessels to install vessel monitoring system (VMS) tracking device. Coastal localities should complete the installation of VMS on fishing vessels, he directed.

The EC has recognised and lauded commitments and efforts of Vietnam in fighting IUU fishing. However, the EC commented that the improvement remains slow as the installation of the VMS devices has yet to reach expected progress, and illegal fishing activities in foreign waters have still happened, said the notification.

Source: VNA