Dung, who is the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing, made the request at a meeting on Wednesday with representatives from local authorities during the visit to the province.
Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung at the meeting
According to the provincial people’s committee, in the first six months of this year, 52 local boats were found engaging in IUU fishing in foreign waters, up 21 cases on-year.
The committee reported that currently the province is home to around 10,000 registered fishing boats, accounting for around 10% of the country’s total number.
Dung said that Vietnam is running out of near-shore seafood resources, which is among reasons for more fishermen who have sailed into other countries’ waters for fishing.
To deal with the situation, Kien Giang’s fisheries sector needs to be restructured for sustainable development. When fishermen’s living condition is improved, IUU fishing activities will be reduced, the deputy PM noted.
In October 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued a yellow card warning to Vietnam due to the country’s failure to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against IUU fishing, making all Vietnamese fisheries exports subject to intense scrutiny.
