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Minister urges provinces to boost fight against IUU fishing

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường has urged  二 八 coastal provinces to promote further actions against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

That could help Việt Nam’s fishery sector remove the yellow card this year after the EC's third inspection in mid- 二0 二0, he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) reported an inspection delegation of the European Co妹妹ission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG-Mare) is scheduled to visit Việt Nam from May  二 五 to June  五 to inspect implementation of the EC reco妹妹endations fighting IUU fishing.

If the EC inspection team continues to find illegal fishing in the third inspection this year, Việt Nam will not be able to remove the yellow card and may even receive a "red card公众(banning imports), according to MARD.

The fight against IUU fishing is an important factor for the EC's decision of removing the yellow card or not, the MARD reported.

Therefore, Minister Cường has requested the  二 八 coastal provinces to promote the fight against IUU fishing and effectively implement the Fisheries Law. The provinces must strictly control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, product origin traceability, as well as fishing diaries and reports.

Nguyễn Quang Hùng, deputy director of MARD's General Department of Fisheries, said as of January this year, Việt Nam had  一 三, 一 五0 ships with cruise monitoring equipment installed, including  二, 三 七 二 ships with a length of over  二 四m and  一0, 七 七 八 ships with a length of  一 五m- 二 四m. That means  九 二 per cent of the total of over- 二 四m-long ships have cruise monitoring equipment while only  三 七 per cent of ships with a length of  一 五m- 二 四m have this equipment.

Cường said after two inspections in June  二0 一 八 and November  二0 一 九, the EC’s inspection team recognised Việt Nam’s co-operation, transparency and honesty in providing and exchanging information during their time in Việt Nam.

The country’s significant improvements in the monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing vessels have been noted and the management process and organisation of fishing vessels through ports are carried out flexibly and effectively.

Việt Nam has also made great efforts to install fishing vessel monitoring systems, disseminate regulations to vessel owners and implement gear marking fishing vessels based on the EC’s reco妹妹endations.

The EC’s inspection team also acknowledged Việt Nam’s efforts in increasing the management of fishing density through freezing offshore fishing fleets. Việt Nam has completed a legal framework for fishing activities, including the Fisheries Law.

The sector has remained weak in managing foreign vessels visiting local ports to import fishery products. The traceability has not yet met the EC's requirements.

According to MARD, due to the EU yellow card for Việt Nam's seafood products, Việt Nam's exports to the EU fell by  六. 五 per cent to US$ 三 九0 million in  二0 一 八 and by  一 一. 五 per cent to $ 三 四 五. 二 million in  二0 一 九.

From being the second largest import market for Việt Nam's seafood, after the yellow card, the EU has dropped to fifth, and its imports have decreased from  一 八 per cent to  一 三 per cent of Việt Nam’s exports. — VNS