Together with fishermen, quickly remove the IUU "yellow card"

On October 16, at Song Doc fishing port (Song Doc town, Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau province), Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha visited and encouraged fishing boat owners and fishermen as well as grasped the situation of compliance with regulations on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

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Inquiring about the fishermen's living conditions and fishing, Mr. Tran Hong Ha said: In recent years, due to increasingly depleted marine resources, there has been a phenomenon of fishermen illegally fishing in foreign waters, or using unsustainable, destructive and exploitative fishing methods. This situation has caused the European Commission to issue an IUU "yellow card" warning, directly affecting the export of Vietnamese aquatic and seafood products to this market.

Cùng bà con ngư dân sớm gỡ “thẻ vàng” IUU

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha inspects a fishing boat equipped with surveillance equipment. (Photo: VGP)

Recently, there have been many documents directing and implementing solutions to remove the IUU "yellow card", such as strengthening management and control of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, installing voyage monitoring equipment, and strictly handling violations... The solutions have been implemented drastically and synchronously from the central to local levels and above all, with great efforts and contributions from fishermen.

Mr. Tran Hong Ha encouraged fishermen and local authorities to continue to join hands to implement existing regulations. At the same time, he hoped to listen to the thoughts and aspirations of fishermen in exploiting and fishing at sea, and propose solutions to effectively implement the work of preventing and combating IUU fishing, towards the development of sustainable and responsible fisheries.

The Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that the Party, State, all levels, sectors and local authorities always pay attention and create favorable conditions for fishermen to confidently go offshore and create long-term livelihoods for people through converting to suitable occupations.

"How to make Vietnam's seas more and more abundant in shrimp and fish, so that the lives of fishermen will become better and better," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Talking to the working group, representatives of fishermen expressed their excitement at receiving attention, visits and encouragement from the Government, all levels, sectors and localities. Fishermen pledged to strictly comply with policies on preventing and combating IUU fishing, installing voyage monitoring equipment (VMS), and not illegally exploiting foreign waters.

Fishermen also made many suggestions for the Government to provide appropriate regulations on border areas and overlapping areas so that fishermen can easily exploit and catch fish at sea; have a plan to delimit priority areas so that people can raise aquatic products at sea; review the regulation that does not allow one person to use the captain's and chief engineer's licenses; create favorable conditions for procedures when replacing new ship engines; support fishermen to convert fishing boats and fishing gear to suit changes in regulations on fishing areas; have priority policies and support for fishermen to change their professions to ensure their livelihoods...

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha presents gifts to fishermen at Song Doc fishing port. (Photo: VGP)

On this occasion, Mr. Tran Hong Ha also visited and presented gifts to the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Fisheries Control, Song Doc Border Guard Station, Song Doc Fishing Port, Song Doc Town People's Committee and 23 fishermen in Song Doc Town, Tran Van Thoi District.