Gia Lai province has taken drastic measures to clamp down on IUU fishing. (Photo: VNA)
Recognising that fishing vessels violating foreign waters could undermine efforts to remove the card, Gia Lai has paid due attention to raising public awareness of the fishing regulations while arranging staff to monitor vessels’ arrivals and departures around the clock.
More than 3,200 vessel owners and captains have signed commitments pledging not to violate foreign waters or engage in IUU fishing practices.
All fishing vessels now follow declaration procedures before arrivals and departures, complete fishing logs fully, and comply with mandatory installation and operation of monitoring system.
The province is now home to 5,861 registered fishing vessels measuring six metres or longer, including 3,183 offshore vessels of at least 15 metres equipped with voyage monitoring systems.
Provincial authorities identified that 215 vessels engaging in squid fishing in southern provinces present high risk of foreign water violations. Since October 2023, eight working groups have conducted direct outreach, urging fisherman not to infringe foreign waters.
Following intensive May 2024 campaigns, 195 of the 215 vessels have installed monitoring systems. The remaining boats include 18 inactive and two that have returned to Binh Dinh waters.
For 620 vessels lacking proper operating documents due to expired fishing permits and registration, or missing monitoring equipment, the provincial People’s Committee has ordered local communes and wards to establish inter-agency working groups in charge of collecting non-compliant vessels and relocating them to designated local anchoring areas under strict supervision.
Meanwhile, vessel owners must remove all fishing gear, equipment, and harvesting tools from non-compliant boats and are prohibited from conducting any maritime fishing operations./.
