Binh Dinh takes drastic measures to fight IUU fishing

The Party Committee and People’s Committee of the south-central coastal province of Binh Dinh have been taking drastic measures to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing since 2018.

The Party Committee and People’s Committee of the south-central coastal province of Binh Dinh have been taking drastic measures to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing since 2018.

Besides directions and inspections, the provincial People’s Committee has made prevention of fishing vessels’ violation of foreign waters a criterion to assess the performance of local authorities. Heads of authorities at the commune and district levels have to take responsibility if violations are detected.

Fishing vessels at Quy Nhon Port in the south-central coastal province of Binh Dinh. (Photo: VNA)

The province also established an inter-sectoral inspection group to address the violations.

Regarding the installation of vessel monitoring system (VMS), Binh Dinh offered financial support for fishing vessels' owners in purchasing and installing the equipment.

Up to now, the province has provided more than 30 billion VND to a total of 2,966 fishing vessels for the installation. As many as 3,258 out of 3,292 fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more in the province have installed VMS.

Binh Dinh currently has three fishing ports - Quy Nhon, De Gi, and Tam Quan – with sufficient systems to verify the origin of fishery products.

From the beginning of 2023, the province has certified the origin for more than 2,513 tonnes of fish of all kinds, an increase of 74% over the same period in 2022.

Nguyen Tuan Thanh, Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh provincial People's Committee, said that the provincial committee has strongly directed departments, branches, and local authorities in promoting communication on IUU fishing, violations, and punishments.

However, he admitted that violations were still reported.

He said in the coming time, the provincial People's Committee will consider developing a policy to support fishermen who are at high risk of violating foreign waters to change jobs. Mechanisms and policies will also be devised to subsidize satellite connection fees for fishing vehicles to maintain the operation of VMS.

The province will soon complete the registration, issuance of fishing licenses, installation of VMS, and update fishing vessel data into the national fisheries database, Thanh said.

Binh Dinh province now has 5,667 fishing vessels with a length of 6 metres or more, and over 40,900 workers engaged in fishing activities. Its annual fishery production in recent years has surpassed 250,000 tonnes. In the first six months of 2023, the production reached more than 135,900 tonnes, over 3% higher than that of the same period last year./.

Source: VNA