A fishing boat of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Public Security has beenasked to seriously punish individuals and organisations working as brokers tobring Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen to overseas waters to illegallyexploit aquatic resources.

It was directed by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, head ofthe National Steering Committee on  Illegal,Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Prevention and Control, in document No.198/TB-VPCP issued by the Government Office on July 21.

The document said over the past years, thanks to drasticdirections by the National Steering Committee on the IUU Fishing Prevention andControl together with efforts and determination of ministries, agencies andpeople’s committees of 28 centrally-run coastal cities and provinces, the fightagainst IUU fishing has made important results.

To achieve the goal of having the “yellow card” warning liftednext year, the Deputy PM asked heads of relevant ministries, agencies and people’scommittees of centrally-run coastal cities and provinces to continue followingdirections by the permanent member of the Party Central Committee’sSecretariat, Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Preventionand Control and seriously following recommendations by the European Commission.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was assignedto work with ministries and agencies concerned to inspect imported aquaticproducts. It must also partner with the Foreign Ministry and relevant agenciesto propose measures to cooperate with countries, international organisationsand region in the exploitation of aquatic resources.

The Ministry of Public Security was tasked with preventing andeliminating IUU fishing in the near future, and promptly report the situation and suggestmeasures to the Government, PM and the National Steering Committee on IUU FishingPrevention and Control.

The Ministry of National Defence was urged to take effectivemeasures to prevent and end fishing vessels from illegally tapping aquaticproducts overseas, ensuring the security and safety of legalexploitation by Vietnamese fishermen.

Via diplomatic channels, the Foreign Minister will convey messagesreflecting the Vietnamese Government’s political determination to combat IUUfishing, deal with issues regarding Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen arrested overseas, oppose to brutal treatment against Vietnamese fishermen in sea areas, especially in overlapping waters and those pendingnegotiations on demarcation, while working closely with domestic agencies to seriouslypunish violations.

𒊎 The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, theVietnam Fisheries Society, and fisheries enterprises must seriously followregulations on IUU fishing prevention, as well as stay away from buying,processing or exporting products with IUU fishing origin./.