As per the information Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry has asked China to crap it commercial fishing ban in the East Sea. The authority told that the local fishermen join hands to secure Vietnamese waters. It is said that China sent eight patrol ships to monitor 128,000 square kilometers of the East Sea last month to enforce a three-month ban China unilaterally declared on commercial fishing in waters that lie between China and Vietnam.
Le Dzung, spokesman of Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, informed that deputy minister Ho Xuan Son had met with Chinese ambassador Sun Gouxiang last Thursday about the ban. Son opined that the ban had been very bad for Vietnamese fishermen who had been fishing those waters for years. He further told that the ban has outraged the public and that’s not good for the relationship between the two countries.
The Chinese ambassador promised to give the request to his government. Dang Can, a fisherman from the central province of Quang Ngai, is still frightened after an armed Chinese ship seized five tons of his fish last week. He has yet to cast off again. Fisherman Doan Van Loc of Phu Yen Province expressed that though it is now Vietnam’s high fishing season, many ship owners have docked their vessels since hearing about the ban.
It is observed that some fishermen in the central region have protected themselves by taking matters into their own hands. In 2005, Phu Yen Province border guards established 99 “safety fleets,” with more than 10,000 sailors operating 900 vessels.Each fleet gathers some 10-12 vessels sailed by around 55 fishermen. Besides fishing, the fleets aim to secure Vietnamese waters off the province. The fleets act as the border guards’ eyes and ears in the area.
