The directive, signed off by Permanent Member of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai, highlighted the fisheries sector’s development over the past years. It also notes that since 2017, all-level authorities, sectors, and the national steering committee for combating IUU fishing have exerted efforts to carry out policies and legal regulations, build systems for monitoring fishing vessels, and boost management, thus gradually reducing violations.
However, the directive also pointed out that the sector has yet to secure truly sustainable development or fully comply with anti-IUU fishing regulations. As a result, the country hasn’t succeeded in having the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning over the issue removed.
The Secretariat underlined the main causes of current shortcomings and assigned some focal and urgent tasks to Party committees and organisations, administrations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and socio-political organisations so as to ramp up the fight against IUU fishing and ensure sustainable fisheries development.
It required them to view the IUU fishing combat as an important, urgent, and also long-term task critical to sustainable fisheries development, as well as a responsibility of the entire political system and the whole society.
It asked for stepping up law dissemination and awareness-raising activities; effectively implementing the strategy for sustainably developing Vietnam’s maritime economy until 2030 with a vision to 2045, along with the plans, strategies, and programmes related to the fisheries sector’s sustainable development and international integration; and quickly perfecting relevant policies and legal regulations.
Other tasks include paying due attention to the policies on aquaculture, fishery resources exploitation, protection and development, and export processing; supporting the modernisation of the fisheries sector; improving livelihoods and vocational training for fishermen; and bettering the state management capacity.
The fisheries resources surveillance force and relevant agencies are required to enhance their capacity and sense of responsibility while examination, inspection, monitoring, law enforcement, and settlement of violations must be enhanced and public - private partnership in building fishery infrastructure should be encouraged and facilitated.
The tasks also include strengthening international cooperation, especially with the EU and European countries, boosting diplomatic measures, garnering support from relevant parties in order to have the “yellow card” warning lifted soon, and preventing fishing vessels and fishermen’s illegal operations in foreign waters from affecting Vietnam’s relations with other countries.
The Secretariat also asked for taking diplomatic actions to protect the Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen who do not commit IUU fishing but are detained by foreign authorities in overlapping, disputed, and undemarcated waters.
Another task is to accelerate negotiations and signing on the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelves between Vietnam and other countries, according to the directive.
