Con Co Island, Quang Tri. (Source: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism)

Quang Tri province is stepping up efforts to prevent violations in near-shore waters, to help combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

From early August to September 20, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Tri province launched a peak campaign to combat and prevent encroachment on the Con Co Island Marine Reserve. The entire marine area of ​​this reserve has a scale of 4,532 hectares and an outer buffer zone of 300 - 500 m.

Con Co Island is about 17 nautical miles from the mainland. The purpose of this peak period is to step up patrolling, inspection, control, prevention, detection and handling of violations; strengthen the handling of violations of the law, thereby correcting organizations and individuals who do not comply with regulations on combating IUU fishing.

During this time, the authorities focused on fighting and preventing violations including the storage and use of banned substances, explosives, electricity for fishing, regulations on sea areas and fishing licenses in the Con Co Island Marine Reserve. In particular, the focus was on the key areas of the strictly protected subdivision with an area of ​​534 hectares, calculated from the water's edge of Con Co Island outwards from 400 - 700 m, and the ecological restoration subdivision calculated from the boundary of the strictly protected subdivision outwards from about 1,000 - 1,700 m, with an area of ​​1,392 hectares.

Nearshore fishing by small fishing vessels with lengths from 6 m to less than 12 m still exists. Specifically, some fishing vessel captains have not complied with regulations on docking at designated fishing ports to unload aquatic products and record and submit fishing logs, due to the distance from fishing ports.

The Steering Committee for Combating IUU Fishing in Quang Tri Province has requested coastal localities to provide guidance and specific solutions for small fishing vessels operating inshore to comply with regulations on docking at fishing ports to unload exploited products; record and submit fishing logs to fishing ports in full and in accordance with regulations to monitor exploited aquatic product output.

In addition, the province also focused on fixing 378 small fishing vessels with lengths from 6 m to less than 15 m operating in near-shore waters without registration, inspection, and fishing license (commonly known as "3 no" fishing vessels).

Accordingly, the province has issued a decision to announce 378 "3 no" fishing vessels in the area; at the same time, it has directed departments, branches, sectors and coastal localities to directly guide the owners of 378 fishing vessels with lengths from 6 m to under 15 m to prepare documents for registration; not to allow new fishing vessels to be built, converted and bought and sold in other provinces without the written approval of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure that no more "3 no" fishing vessels arise, in addition to the list of "3 no" fishing vessels announced by the province.