(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tam, Director of Kien Giang Fisheries Sub-Department, Kien Giang is one of the leading provinces in piloting the installation of cruise monitoring equipment on fishing ships before the Fisheries Law takes effect. The province is determined to install equipment according to regulations, ensuring that all active fishing boats must install cruise monitoring equipment (VMS) when going to sea.
Kien Giang province to complete installing fishing vessel cruise monitoring equipment
As of the end of February 2021, the whole province has installed cruise monitoring devices for 3,570/3,616 fishing vessels (excluding fishing vessels subject to de-registration) with the largest length of 15m or more, reaching 99%. In which, fishing vessels with the maximum length of 24m or more are 603 ships, he longest ones from the rest are from 15 m to less than 24m.
Mr. Tam said that in order to fulfill the determination to complete 100% of the operating fishing ships, it is necessary to install cruise monitoring equipment according to regulations. The fisheries industry has proposed measures such as: Send notices to all ship owners asking for early implementation of the installation of cruise monitoring equipment according to regulations, if not there will be legal remedies; Coordinate with the local authority (where the owner of the fishing vessel is registered) to review each specific case and find solutions if there is any problem.
The Provincial Steering Committee against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) requires functional agencies to strengthen inspection, control, and resolutely ban fishing vessels without monitoring equipment following the operating regulations
Kien Giang is one of the provinces with quite developed fishing profession. By the end of 2020, the whole province has had 9,884 fishing ships. Kien Giang is also the leading province in the country in terms of capture fisheries, with production accounting for over 15% of the country's total and over 40% of the Mekong Delta's catch.
The province's fishing output in 2020 reached over 572 thousand tons, an increase of 15.6% compared to the year plan, but decrease by 5% compared to the same period in 2019. To restore aquatic resources and limit fishing capacity, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has included the content of not developing fishing vessels until 2025 in the Regulation on specific criteria for building, converting, and renting, buying fishing vessels in Kien Giang province, issued in early 2021; strengthening inspection, urging and guiding localities to improve management capacity for blocks of fishing vessels with the largest length of less than 12m operating in accordance with regulations on registration and licensing of fishing vessels.