Thanh Hoa takes strong action against vessels staying uncontacted at sea

To fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the central province of Thanh Hoa has been augmenting checks and stringently dealing with the boats that stay uncontacted at sea. So far this year, Thanh Hoa has been implementing an intensified crackdown on IUU fishing to join nationwide efforts towards having the European Commission (EC)'s 'yellow card' warning lifted soon. Monitoring and handling the vessels with disconnected vessel monitoring systems (VMS) is one of the most important tasks. All the 1,097 fishing vessels that are 15 metres long and over in Thanh Hoa have been equipped with VMS. The province has also updated information about 2,752 local vessels on the national fisheries database (Vnfishbase). Examination results, fishing licences, vehicles arriving and leaving fishery ports, and the caught volume recorded at ports have also been regularly updated. The EC is scheduled to come to Vietnam for the fifth inspection around September-October this year. Source: Vietnam News Agency