Binh Thuan ready for EC’s fifth IUU fishing inspection
The People’s Committee of the south-central coastal province of Binh Thuan on October 10 held a meeting to review efforts in the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the locality, and to discuss necessary preparations for the European Commission (EC)'s upcoming fifth inspection.
According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), relevant agencies and localities in Binh Thuan continue to implement a series of solutions in the work, combining awareness-raising campaigns and calling on fishing boat owners to sign commitment documents not to violate foreign waters.
No local fishing vessels or fishermen have been detained by foreign authorities for violations since January 2023.
According to Vice Director of the department Nguyen Van Chien, vessel monitoring systems (VMS) have been installed on all of the 1,943 fishing vessels from 15 metres in length in the locality.
So far, as many as 2,309 “three-no's” vessels (no registrations, no checks, no licences) or 91.2% of the total fishing boats in Binh Thuan have registered to update their data on the national fisheries database (Vnfishbase).
The electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) system has been applied rigorously, with 4,402 entries of fishing vessels reporting their arrival and departure at ports through the system in September.
Over the past time, the provincial Department of Fisheries have worked around the clock to supervise, detect, and handle in a timely way fishing boats staying uncontacted and crossing the fishing boundaries.
Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Hai urged relevant units to intensify their efforts in combating IUU fishing in the locality, contributing to the country’s attempt to have the EC’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnamese seafood lifted soon.
He also asked for prompt registration for “three-no's” fishing ships, those with expired and without licenses.
