Ba Ria-Vung Tau working to remove EC’s yellow card on illegal fishing

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is now rolling out a host of measures to effectively handle the situation and have the EC’s “yellow card” on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing removed.

a Ria-Vung Tau has a large fishing fleet, with nearly 5,400 licensed vessels. Management can at times be problematic, as can technical problems, while port management is also lacking due to a shortage of human resources. Local authorities have identified a number of solutions to address the situation.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau province has signed cooperation agreements with the Naval Region 2 Command, the Coast Guard Region 3 Command, and the Coast Guard Region 4 Command and other nearby provinces to combat illegal fishing.

Currently, before heading offshore, fishing vessels must go through strict inspections by the Fisheries Sub-department. When they leave port, border guard stations continue to check on their coordinates. The efforts have helped enhance fishermen’s awareness and responsibility.

Local functional forces have been asked to resolutely stop the more than 200 fishing vessels without cruise monitoring devices from heading out to sea, while raising awareness among fishermen about complying with regulations when fishing in waters bordering other countries.

Prior to 2018, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province was considered a “black spot” in Vietnam in regard to illegal fishing. With local efforts and support from the Border Guard and Coast Guard, the number of illegal fishing cases has fallen significantly. There were 14 cases in 2019, but only four have been reported so far this year.