Quat Lam Border Guard Station officers regularly meet with fishermen before their fishing trips. |
Officers at the Quat Lam Border Guard Station regularly meet with fishermen before their fishing trips and organize programs to equip them with knowledge about laws and essential skills.
The owners of fishing vessels are also advised to prepare relevant papers, check the quality of the vessel monitoring system, and ensure safety before going out to sea.
Local fishermen are also asked to work together to protect their assets, closely coordinate with border guards and other patrol forces, and protect river mouths and wharves.
Many border guards at the Quat Lam station have been assigned to work at the docks to remind and educate each fisherman about laws. They always stand ready to provide assistance and disseminate information about the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as well as the Border Guard Law. As a result, most fishermen are committed to not infringing upon foreign waters and have a better awareness of the consequences of IUU fishing.
The Quat Lam Border Guard Station is responsible for managing a 14km long sea route with four communes and one town. Under its management, the majority of vessels have strictly complied with fishing regulations, but violations still occur.
In the first nine months of this year, the station organized nine conferences with 985 participants, conducted 66 hours of mobile information dissemination, and 16 hours of information dissemination via local radio systems.
It also collaborated with provincial and district radio and television stations to produce three documentaries and 15 articles, presented 100 national flags, distributed 500 leaflets on legal regulations and the fight against IUU fishing, and sent officers to households to guide them in making commitments.
To ensure sustainable fisheries development, the Quat Lam Border Guard Station has been working with local authorities to combat IUU fishing and remove the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” on Vietnamese seafood.
Fishermen defend national seas
Favourable weather, low oil prices and bumper catch on the horizon have fishermen eager to sail out to their traditional fishing grounds off the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes. For them, this not only about makinig a living, but also asserting sovereignty over the country’s seas and islands.