Vietnam works hard to have “yellow card” warning removed

Statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) showed that 62 seafood companies have committed to fighting illegal fishing to bolster exports to Europe.

Apart from investing heavily in fishing vessels, seafood companies have paid attention to purchasing materials for processing from fishing ports.

According to VASEP, there are only 3,000 Vietnamese fishing vessels installed with Movimar satellite geo-positioning devices. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ordered vessels of 24 metres in length and over to be equipped with Movimar devices, and the installation must be completed before October this year.

The ministry also asked coastal localities to take specific measures to intensify the supervision at fishing ports.

Besides, Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam said the implementation of the cruise tracking device project must be accelerated to prevent illegal fishing.

On October 23, 2017, the EC issued a “yellow card” warning to Vietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing.

A working delegation from the EC’s General Directorate for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries visited Vietnam from May 16-24 to inspect the country’s implementation of the EC’s nine recommendations related to the fight against IUU fishing.

The nine recommendations included revisions to the legal framework to ensure compliance with international and regional rules, applicable to the conservation and management of fisheries resources; ensuring the effective implementation and enforcement of the country’s revised laws; and strengthening the effective implementation of international rules and management measures.

The EC inspectors will return to Vietnam in January 2019 to review the country’s progress in addressing its “yellow card” warnings.