Gov’t requests better information sharing to terminate IUU fishing

Under the Directive, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for providing information on management of offshore fishing vessels and fishermen; the outcomes of anti-IUU fishing cooperation between Viet Nam and other countries and regional and international organizations; the outcomes of handling violations by Vietnamese fishing vessels in foreign waters.

The Ministry of National Defense is in charge of sharing information on the outcomes of patrols in sea areas that are overlapping or have not yet been demarcated between Viet Nam and other countries; the outcomes of handling violations by Vietnamese fishing vessels in foreign waters.

The Ministry of Public Security is assigned to share information on the situation and results of investigation and handling of those who organize illegal fishing in foreign waters, or illegally bring fishing vessels and fishermen back to Viet Nam.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for providing information on the outcomes of negotiations on sea border demarcation between and foreign countries, protection of legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese fishermen when they are arrested and punished by the competent forces of other countries.

 The People’s Committees of the 28 coastal provinces and cities are requested to finalize the installation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) on fishing vessels and strictly punish vessels that do not equip, or maintain operation of VMSs or disable or remove them during operation at sea.

The system is expected to help monitor the journey and timely detect and address IUU fishing in foreign waters.

Earlier, in October 2017, the European Commission issued a “yellow card” warning for Vietnamese seafood exported to the EU as Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen violated the IUU fishing regulations./.

By Kim Loan