EC’s upcoming visit to Vietnam to review IUU fishing fight

Illustration. (Photo: VNA)

Officials from the European Commission (EC) will visit Vietnam again this October to check measures against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in coastal areas, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Vietnam Directorate of Fisheries (VDF).

The trip aims to review the country's efforts in removing the “yellow card” warning issued by the EU in 2017, said Nguyen Quang Hung, VDF Deputy Director General, adding that the check will be conducted directly at fishing ports.

The EC officials will focus on four matters, namely regulatory framework, management of fishing ships, traceability of seafood products from point-of-catch to point-of-sale, and law enforcement and penalties for violations, if any, Hung noted.

He further said that although Vietnam has made positive steps forward in fighting IUU fishing, challenges remain hampering the progress. There have been insufficient efforts among many fishermen in keeping records of their fishing trips through catch log-books. Plus, there is a lack of funding to renovate fishing ports in poor conditions and provide them with necessary equipment and supervising personnel.

The National Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Prevention will convene a meeting to urgently address the issues, he said.

The EC emphasises that the first thing Vietnam must do to remove the “yellow card” warning is to end Vietnamese fishing vessels encroaching foreign waters, he stated./.