The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has requested coastal cities and provinces to employ multiple measures to crack down on illegal, unreported, and unregulated or IUU fishing.

The request was the latest move by the Ministry in an effort to have the European Commission’s “yellow card” lifted off Vietnamese seafood.

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

 The ministry told cities and provinces to step up its campaign on raising awareness and updating local fishermen and seafood exporters on the “yellow card” and anti-IUU fishing regulations.

 In the second half of 2018, coastal provinces and cities were recommended to mobilise resources and put forth suitable measures to monitor local fishing fleets.

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

Drastic solutions taken to address EC’s warning of IUU fishing

Vietnam’s fishing sector will employ drastic solutions to deal with the European Commission (EC)’s warning of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing during the second half of this year, said an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). 

Speaking at a conference held by the MARD’s Directorate of Fisheries in Hanoi on July 4, Tran Dinh Luan, head of the Directorate, said the sector will keep a close watch on production at sea, focusing on identifying product origin at localities. 

In the field of aquaculture, inspections will centre on food quality and the use of antibiotics, he said. 

Efforts will be made to fulfill the target of seafood output at over 3.9 million tonnes, with an export turnover aim to hit nearly 6 million USD over the remaining six months of the year, according to the official. 

MARD Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam underlined the need to increase productivity, reduce prices, and control the use of antibiotics in shrimp and basa fish breeding in order to overcome technical barriers imposed by importers. 

In shrimp farming, the most important task is to apply industrial production methods and high technologies. 

Meanwhile, in basa fish farming, it is necessary to monitor the quality of young fry and manage the market, the official said. 

The Directorate reported that between January and June, the total seafood output exceeded 3.56 million tonnes, of which sea catches posted more than 1.76 million tonnes and aquaculture output was around 1.79 million tonnes. The sector’s export turnover was estimated at 4.02 billion USD.

VNA