Ben Tre local fishermen better aware of legal operating regulations

Ben Tre (VNA) – Thanks to drastic and effective measures, the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre has seen great improvement in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing prevention and control.

Home to 1,725 fishing vessels, including 1,500 engaging in offshore fishing activities, Ba Tri district is one of the three coastal localities with fastest growth in Ben Tre's fisheries sector.

In order to secure sustainable development of the fisheries sector, the district has focused on educating local fishermen on violations of fisheries regulations that could cause international export restrictions of Vietnamese products.

Major Le Minh Trung - Political Commissar of Ham Luong border guard post said that the post has coordinated with the local administration of coastal communes in Ba Tri to review, evaluate and classify fishing boats with high risk of violating foreign waters.

The post has sent officers to households to popularise fisheries regulations and punishments for violations.

At the same time, it has strengthened communications via mass media and social platforms, ensuring that local fishermen understand all legal regulations regarding fisheries activities, thus enhancing their awareness in complying with the law.

Pham Van Tuan, a local in An Thuy commune, Ba Tri district, who owns a fishing vessel, said that thanks to communications activities, he has clearly seen the significance of installing the vessel monitoring system (VMS), which helps him and authorities to keep track of the movements of his vessel at sea.

From 2022 to September 2023, the Ham Luong border guard post advised the Ben Tre Border Guard High Command to apply administrative fines on six fishing boat captains and seven boat owners with a total fine of nearly 6.5 billion VND (267,027 USD).

With a 65-km coastline crossing three districts and 10 communes, Ben Tre has great potential for fisheries development. Currently, it has more than 2,760 fishing vessels, including 2,000 offshore fishing vessels. The province’s annual catch is over 200,000 tonnes.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Minh Canh said that defining fisheries as a spearhead economic sector, Ben Tre has paid great attention to switching traditional fisheries to responsible and sustainable fisheries.

It has built a communications programme on IUU fishing prevention and control, while setting up a Steering Committee for IUU fishing prevention and control in 2017 with annual revision and elevation of the work.

Canh said that so far, Ben Tre has signed a coordination agreement with eight coastal localities in fishing boat management, as well as collaboration deals with the Coast Guard Regions 3 and 4 on IUU fishing prevention and control.

As a result, local fishermen's abiding by fisheries regulations has been greatly improved, while all fishing vessels have installed the VMS and strictly follow procedures in vessel registration, fisheries exploitation and operation recording./.