Quang Binh(VNA) – The central province of Quang Binh on March 16 launched a plan oninspecting fisheries activities to tackle illegal, unreported andunregulated (IUU) fishing as guided by the European Commission (EC). 

In September 2017, the EC issued a yellow card warningVietnam for failing to progress in fighting IUU fishing. The EC also proposednine recommendations that Vietnam should implement. The "yellow card"is followed by a "green card" if the problem is resolved or a"red card" if it isn’t. A “red card” can lead to a trade ban onfishery products.

TheEU will assess Vietnam’s efforts to fight IUU fishing in April.

QuangBinh’s plan aims to trace the origin of seafood products towards preventingillegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Accordingly,all fishing vessels will be subject to paper examination upon leaving wharves,especially ones suspected of fishing in foreign waters and docking in Gianh andNhat Le river ports.

Atleast 20 percent of tuna output and 5 percent of seafood products ashore will undergoinspections as recommended by the EC.

Apartfrom inspecting and preventing violations at sea, the plan also targets vesselsat high risk of illegal fishing, using explosives and toxics, and potentiallydamage fishermen’ lives and assets.

HoDang Chien, Chairman of the Duc Trach communal People’s Committee, Bo Trachdistrict, said the locality is home to the largest number of offshore fishingvessels so it is necessary to raise public awareness of the value of fisheryresources for export to improve exploitation efficiency.

PermanentVice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Xuan Quang pledged toattach importance to signing agreements with fishermen to strictly deal withviolations, closely monitoring fishing vehicles and fishermen’s activities.

Theprovince will also promptly establish a representative office to inspect andmonitor fisheries activities, strengthen inspection in river mouths, provideoptimal support for fishermen and launch a fishery database.-VNA