Thanh Hoa (VNA), March 1 -- The north central province of Thanh Hoa has been taking drastic measures to crack down on illegal fishing vessels, especially those without registration and fishing licences or those without certificates that prove their seaworthiness (vessels with 3 NOs).

According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province now still has 70 vessels with 3 NOs.

In addition, a total of 359 local vessels are found to have their vessel monitoring systems (VMS) disconnected while at sea for over ten days and 697 vessels do not have enough required papers or have their VMS disconnected for over six months.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, head of the provincial Fisheries Sub-department, said that the provin...