Making news

Dak Lak works to prevent unqualified fishing vessels from setting sail

The province will ensure that vessels which do not meet standards are prevented from going offshore. This initiative is part of urgent efforts by coastal localities to help Vietnam address the European Commission’s “yellow card” warning.
  Soldiers from Coast Guard Region 3 and Border Guard provide legal information to fishermen. (Photo: VNA)  

 

The central province of Dak Lak is currently assessing fishing vessels that do not meet the required standards and is assisting fishermen in completing necessary procedures.

The province will ensure that vessels which do not meet standards are prevented from going offshore. This initiative is part of urgent efforts by coastal localities to help Vietnam address the European Commission’s “yellow card” warning.

In local coastal communes such as Tuy An Nam, O Loan, and Tuy An Dong, many vessels under 12m in length still lack the required documents for nearshore and inshore operations.

As of August 18, 1,254 fishing vessels, accounting for 41.94% of the total, were unqualified to operate. This situation was partly due to the recent mergence of provincial-level administrative units, which temporarily disrupted the operations of the sub-department of fisheries and islands. This disruption occurred because there were no regulations in place regarding its functions, and the official seal was unavailable.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment has requested the provincial Military Command and coastal communes/wards to enforce strict control over unqualified vessels. Additionally, the sub-department is developing plans to collaborate directly with local communities to assist vessel owners with registration, licences, and the installation of vessel monitoring systems.

After its mergence with former Phu Yen province, Dak Lak now has 14 coastal communes and wards. Its fishing fleet comprises 2,990 vessels registered in the national fisheries database (VNFishbase). Among them, 681 out of 684 vessels of 15m or longer have installed VMSs, reaching a rate of 99.56%. The few remaining vessels are inactive and currently undergoing installation procedures./.

top