Illustrative image. (Photo: VNA)

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Hoang Nhat Nam said inspection teams have been set up to examine fishing boats’ compliance with rules against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and strictly deal with wrongdoings.

Tien Giang has coordinated with ministries, central agencies, and the administrations of the 27 other coastal provinces and cities to share and process information in a timely manner so as to deal with and soon put an end to IUU fishing in foreign waters.

Efforts have also been made to boost the dissemination of the Law on Fisheries, anti-IUU fishing regulations, maps of sea storms and maritime boundaries, along with information about maritime traffic safety, aquatic resources conservation and development, and Vietnam’s seas and islands so as to raise fishermen’s awareness of sustainable fisheries, Nam noted.

He added local authorities have implemented some policies to encourage and assist offshore fishing and related services in order to boost economic value and safeguard security, order, and sovereignty at sea.

So far, Tien Giang has seen the establishment of 44 fishing cooperative groups gathering 405 vessels with 3,544 crewmembers, one fishing cooperative with seven vessels and 68 crewmembers, and three seafood unions with 98 vessels and 745 crewmembers.

Nam said the founding of fishing cooperative groups and cooperatives, as well as the development of logistics services boats, has helped improve the catch value and supplies for sea fishing, reduce expenses, raise offshore fishing efficiency, protect the maritime sovereignty, and assist one another in coping with unexpected incidents while working at sea.

The province targets over 125,000 tonnes of seafood caught this year to serve the domestic market and export processing. The volume approximated 20,000 tonnes in the first two months of this year.