As of September 2023, the locality counted 4,292 fishing vessels, of them 3,127 measuring 15 metres and above in length, along with about 38,000 labourers working at sea, according to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Trong Phuong.
The provincial People’s Committee established a steering committee on IUU fishing prevention in 2019, and issued a plan on the implementation of relevant tasks and solutions for the 2023-2025 period.
Statistics show that more than 97% of the fishing boats have registered for operation, and more than 83.3% have been granted with fishing licences. Meanwhile, over 99% of fishing vessels with the length of at least 15 metres have been equipped with the vessel monitoring system (VMS).
Since the beginning of this year, the province has imposed administrative fines of more than 523 million VND (21,421 USD) on 33 boat owners for their violations of fishing regulations.
Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee Tran Phuoc Hien said the IUU fishing combat tasks have received the response from local fishermen and boat owners. Therefore, no cases of fishing vessels illegally operating in foreign waters have been reported over the past three years.
Phuong said Quang Ngai will take stronger measures to combat IUU fishing in the time ahead, step up the communications work, and coordinate with adjacent provinces and competent forces in this regard./.
