Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 16 (Reporter Hu Lu) The Agreement on Measures for Preventing, Stop and Eliminating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing in Ports officially came into effect on China on April 16. This marks an important step in our country in continuing to crack down on illegal fishing and protecting marine fishery resources.

This is what the reporter learned at a press conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on the 16th. The Port State Measures Agreement was formulated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It is the most important international instrument in global fishery governance and combating illegal fishing in recent years. It aims to prevent illegally caught fishing from entering international and domestic markets through ports and ensure long-term conservation and sustainable use of marine biological resources and marine ecosystems through effective implementation of port state measures.

"This joining the agreement means that my country will assume more international responsibilities in fishery management." Liu Xinzhong, director of the Fisheries and Fisheries Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, explained that fishing boats that go ashore or enter the port from my country's port will be supervised in accordance with the measures stipulated in the agreement. At the same time, as a flag country, my country's fishing boats must enter other countries or economies, and they must also obey the provisions of the agreement, and undergo relevant inspections when they go ashore, unload, and trade. In addition, we must participate in the improvement, upgrading, popularization and implementation of the agreement.

Liu Xinzhong said that joining the agreement will help my country deeply participate in international fishery governance, crack down on illegal fishing, protect marine fishery resources, and improve port management level, improve the full-chain supervision system, promote the modernization of the fishery industry, and promote high-level opening up.

The implementation of the agreement is a systematic project that puts forward higher and updated requirements for cross-departmental coordination and regulatory enforcement capabilities. Liu Xinzhong said that in order to ensure that this work is implemented well, a coordination mechanism at the central and local levels has been established.

In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will carry out special law enforcement actions, deploy supervision and inspection of foreign ships involving fishing, and hold law enforcement capabilities training in the near future to further improve the ability to fulfill the contract. We will also coordinate relevant forces of relevant universities and directly affiliated institutions to participate in the review, evaluation and subsequent rule negotiation of the agreement, and provide legal, technical and other support for the implementation of the agreement.