"Give fishermen more say in making rules"

The seafood industry needs more powerful vessels to exploit distant fishing grounds - and more involvement between fishermen and State officials making the rules governing the industry.

Head of the Department of Fishery Resources Exploitation and Protection Chu Tien Vinh said there were 117,778 fishing boats, most of them registered.

However, about 80 per cent had less than 90 horse power and must operate close to shore.

This meant that small and low quality fish often accounted for 40-50 per cent of each catch.

Most Vietnamese fishing vessels are made of wood, so they do not last long. Most of their engines are old, which reduces safety.

Shortcomings

Vinh said State management of fisheries had many shortcomings. First, State registration and examination of vessels was slack, so it was difficult to control numbers.

He said there were too many small fishing boats working close to shore - and their numbers rose by about 2,000 a year.

Second, most fish and shrimp caught were small and of low quality.

Third, relations between the fishermen and State management offices was weak. There were about 500 seafood co-operatives with nearly 20,000 members. However, Vinh said this was only 3 per cent of the total number of fishermen in Viet Nam.

Fourth, there were still many problems relating to security and safety on the sea, he said.

At present, the Department of Fishery Resources Exploitation and Protection and its 36 branches in provinces manage fishing boats.

However, most branches have only one or two patrol ships and many local staff have not been trained in the laws governing fishing vessels.

Vinh said fishermen tended to think that regulations covering fishing were not close to reality, so they often ignored them.

But if the authorities allowed fishermen to participate in making the regulations, they would be more careful in complying with them, he said.

Vinh also said the State should issue fishing licences to effectively control the industry and that fishermen's organisations should be more closely involved.

He said the organisations would be a bridge linking State's management offices to the fishermen.

Viet Nam News

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