Binh Dinh (VNA) – The south-central province ofBinh Dinh is determined to have no local fishing boats violating foreign watersin the next six months before the European Commission (EC) reviews the “yellowcard” against Vietnamese fisheries sector, according to Secretary of the provincialParty Committee Ho Quoc Dung.

Dung said that the province will strictly handle leaders oflocalities that see fishing vessels violating foreign waters, while notallowing boats with a length of less than 15m to conduct fishing activities.

He underlined the need to build a coordination regulations on illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing prevention and combat between BinhDinh and southern localities, along with the sending of a working team tolocalities where Binh Dinh fishing vessels are operating to give legaleducation for ship owners.

The provincial leader said that the locality will also focus on strengthening communications,increasing patrols and strictly handling violations.

Since 2020, Binh Dinh has seen 37 vessels violating foreign waters, mostlythose going offshore from nearby localities.

Tran Van Phuc, Director of the provincial Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development, said one of the reasons behind the situationis that some fishermen have been confused about the border at sea and theunclear demarcation of maritime border between countries in the region,especially in the southern waters of Vietnam, leading to violations in theoverlapping areas.

Meanwhile, as part of the efforts to join hands in removing the EC’s yellow card, the south-central province of Binh Thuan has rolled out various measures to prevent IUU fishing.

Binh Thuan, having 192km coastline and 52,000 sq.km of seawater, has mobilised the engagement of the whole political system in theeffort.

Along with issuing a number of policies and mechanisms toenhance the efficiency of IUU combat, including supporting ship owners toinstall vessel monitoring system (VMS), the province has focused on controllingthe origin of fisheries products, and not allowed vessels without sufficientdocuments to go offshore.

In the first 11 months of this year, the province hadsupervised the handling activities of 4,951 fishing vessels, and confisticating 3,843 fishing record books.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment said that in order to put an end to the violations among the fishingvessels and fishermen, it will continue popularising fisheries law andencouraging fishermen and local residents to report suspected violations.
Alongside, it will strengthen its supervision and alertingcapacity to call vessels with risks of violating foreign waters back.

So far, almost all fishing vessels of Binh Thuan have beenequipped with VMS./.