Authorities in the central province of Quang Nam are still encouraging local fishermen to continue fishing despite a recent ban from Chinese authorities.
Speaking to Dantri/Dtinews Newspaper on June 5, deputy director of Quang Nam Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ngo Tan, said he’s just sent letters to the people’s committees at districts and towns including Duy Xuyen, Thang Binh, Nui Thanh, Tam Ky, Hoi An, Dien Ban, and some borders and ports to encourage them to continue fishing following the fishing ban from China.
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture recently declared to prohibit fishing in three months and a half beginning May 1 in the sea which covers Vietnamese territorial waters, Tan said.
The geographical scope encompasses Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea to the 12th degrees North latitude (including the Gulf of Tonkin).
The ban would be applied for both Chinese and foreign fishermen and Beijing said they would deploy vessels patrolling twice or three times a day to fine violators, he added.
According to the official, they have informed authorities in these coastal districts of the ban and stressed that it will not affect their normal fishing activities in Vietnamese territorial waters.
“However we urged fishermen not to violate the territorial waters of other countries, and to look out for strange ships and timely inform authorities of any conflicts and attacks.
After China announced the ban, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ also voiced its strong protest against the ban.
Speaking at a press conference, spokeswoman of Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Le Thi Thu Hang said that China’s fishing moratorium violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel archipelago contradicts the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which accords all the countries sovereign rights and jurisdiction over their Exclusive Economic Zones, go against the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea between the ASEAN members and China, and complete the Sino-Vietnamese agreement on solving maritime issues.
Source: Dtinews