Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD) has sent a document to People’s Committees of coastalprovinces and cities, requesting ship owners and captains to turn onsatellite-positioning devices (Movimar) round the clock when going fishingoffshore.

It was the latest move by the MARD to fight illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in an effort to have EuropeanCommission (EC)’s “yellow card” lifted on Vietnamese seafood.

All fishing boats with a total length of 15 metres orabove must be equipped with a satellite-positioning device which must beswitched on for 24 hours a day and connected to monitoring centres run by localFisheries Departments, according to the MARD.

The ship owners and captains who fail to comply with thisregulation will get strict penalties.

The ministry also asked the municipal and provincial Departments of Agricultureand Rural Development to review and record the number of Movimar devices beingused by fishing vessels and those being damaged or lost. The fishing vesselswill have their devices repaired or replaced if necessary.

On October 23, 2017, the EC issued a "yellowcard" warning to Vietnam, after the country failed to demonstratesufficient progress in the fight against fishing worldwide. Though the measurewas considered a warning, which would not technically affect the EC tradepolicy, the Vietnamese fishing industry was concerned that the yellow cardwould seriously harm the reputation of Vietnamese seafood worldwide, thusweakening sales. 

According to EC’s requirement, the Vietnamese seafood sector had to implementnine recommendations in six months from October 23, 2017, to April 23, 2018.

The nine recommendations included revision of the legal framework to ensurecompliance with international and regional rules applicable to the conservationand management of fisheries resources, ensuring the effective implementationand enforcement of the country’s revised laws, and strengthening the effectiveimplementation of international rules and management measures.

As the yellow card could affect the reputation and trade of Vietnamese seafoodin the European and global markets, the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP) and businesses have also made every effort tocooperate with authorised agencies and with one another to fight IUU fishingover the last six months.

“Thanks to such drastic measures, the number of fishing boatsand fishermen caught fishing illegally on foreign waters reduced sharply.Particularly, zero case of boats going illegal fishing in foreign waters ofPacific island nations was reported,” said Deputy Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development Ha Cong Tuan, adding that breaches are only found at disputedwaters as the boundaries in these areas have yet to be fixed.

A working delegation from the EC Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs andFisheries will visit Vietnam from May 16 to 23 to inspect the country’simplementation of the EC’s nine recommendations related to the fight againstIUU fishing.

After the inspection, the EU will give its final decision over whether it seeksto withdraw the “yellow card” from Vietnamese offshore seafood.-VNA