Fisheries Dept takes action against 83 offshore fishing vessels for rule breaching

Those 83 offshore and inshore fishing vessels in Myanmar waters, that have a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) not installed, have been found to remove the VMS and so, vessel companies and operators have been taken action for a breach of rules.
In a bid to conduct surveillance of the offshore fishing vessels in Kawthoung District, the VMS devices have been located in Myeik, Taninthayi Region, Yangon Region, Rakhine State and Mon State and Nay Pyi Taw.
“The staff keep monitoring the fishing vessels for 24 hours at the VMS control centres in four coastal areas and Nay Pyi Taw to check if they violate the rules. This move aims for sustainable marine resources and increasing revenue.
The international market, including the European Union, estimates illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) for fishery products. The fishing vessels have been monitored with the VMS devices and the vessel operators will receive a certificate for legitimate fishing. A total of 83 vessel operators faced legal actions for violating the rules in the past financial year2020-2021.
The fisheries department, in the exercise of the power conferred by the Myanmar Marine Fisheries Law, took action against the fishing vessels for a breach of law. Some offshore vessels were found fishing in inshore areas after removing a VMS device.
During the 2020-2021FY, the companies and operators running 83 offshore vessels for fishing in areas close to the shore where only small boats are allowed, stopping the VMS device for more than four hours and not returning in the harbour, stopping the VMS device and fishing in offshore areas, and removing it without the approval of the department were taken legal actions. Furthermore, during the fishing banned season (May-July), 12 vessels operators and one company were taken action as their vessels were found illegally docking for a reason of machine failure. —Nyein Thu-MNA/GNLM