Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh reiterated the Government’s determination to gradually illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing activities toward ending the issue in 2022. 

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh presides over a meeting of
the national steering committee for IUU fishing prevention,
Ha Noi, July 13, 2013. Photo: VGP

Deputy PM Le stressed the point during a meeting of the national steering committee for IUU fishing prevention in Ha Noi on July 13.

Participants to the meeting reviewed the implementation of recommendations by the European Commission (EC) and discussed ways to soon get “yellow card” removed.

As of June 30, there were 26,915 fishing vessels equipped with vessel monitoring system (VMS) device, accounting for 87.45 percent, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Tien Duc.

After nearly four-year implementation of solutions to combat IUU fishing, the EC acknowledged Viet Nam’s commitment, political determination and efforts to deal with the issue, according to Phung.

The EC also acknowledged that Viet Nam has made progress and been on the right track and spoke highly of Viet Nam’s goodwill, cooperation, transparency in information exchanges.

The ministry planned to slash the number of vessels violating fishing rules by at least 40 percent in 2021 and put an end to violations of fishing vessels in foreign waters in 2022.

Representatives of several costal localities suggested the Government would soon amend Decree No. 42 on stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fisheries sector as many vessel owners broke the rules by turning off VMS device or failing to present proper fishing records.

Quang Ninh province called for stricter enforcement of the current regulations to deter violations as the current fine for violating foreign waters is now quite high, ranging from VND800 million to VND1 billion.

Meanwhile the southern province of Kien Giang asked the Government to help set up local fisheries surveillance force to further enhance patrol capacity at sea./.