HẠ LONG — The People's Committee of Quảng Ninh Province has requested the Hạ Long City Police to strictly handle fishing vessels and boats carrying tourists for illegal fishing at night on Hạ Long Bay.

Since the beginning of this year, the police have discovered and handled 12 vehicles illegally carrying tourists on Hạ Long Bay, including seven vehicles illegally transporting people for squid fishing at night.

Inspections revealed that most of the violating vehicles were not registered or inspected, did not ensure technical safety, or environmental sanitation, and lacked life-saving or rescue equipment.

Additionally, about 30 vessels were discovered and handled for illegal fishing using prohibited fishing gear in the core area of the bay, and two cases were prosecuted for the crime of destroying aquatic resources.

Faced with the increasing number of people illegally fishing at night and using prohibited fishing gear to exploit aquatic resources in the bay, the Quảng Ninh authority has asked the Hạ Long Police to strengthen patrols and drastically handle violations to ensure security and safety for tourists, and to build a healthy tourism business environment.

According to the city police, although night fishing activities are illegal, tourists can easily find advertisements for "night squid fishing" tours on the Internet.

To avoid inspection and handling by the authorities, those organising these illegal activities often change pick-up and drop-off locations, taking advantage of the long coastline. Some others use lookouts to inform vessel owners to suspend activities when detecting a patrol force at sea. VNS