Thanh Hoa: The People's Committee of the northern central province of Thanh Hoa on March 13 held a conference to deploy urgent tasks and solutions to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Speaking at the conference, Director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Van Cuong, who is also Standing Deputy Head of the provincial Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing, requested relevant departments, agencies and coastal localities to thoroughly address outstanding shortcomings and limitations towards promptly preventing and fully ending IUU fishing in the province. The province's Fisheries Sub-Department and Thanh Hoa Fishing Port Management Board will continue to assign staff to guide households and fishing vessel owners to complete paperwork as prescribed. They will keep coordinating with border guards and waterway traffic police to strengthen patrols and control of fishing activities to strictly handle violations. The fisheries sub-department strictly updated the volume of seafood catches unloaded at local ports onto the national database. Any fishing vessels that are found to not meet regulations or commit IUU fishing must be reported to the competent authority for properly handling. Competent agencies and localities were asked to intensify communications activities to raise vessel owners and households' understanding on regulations against IUU fishing. Vessels without registration, fishing licences and certificates that prove their seaworthiness (vessels with 3 NOs) are not allowed to operate at sea. Meanwhile, the provincial Border Guard Command will organise a crackdown to ensure that vessels without papers, license plates or vessel monitoring system (VMS) are not allowed to sail. They will also focus on verifying and handle cases where fishing vessels' VMS lose connection while the ships are at sea or fishing vessels go beyond permitted boundaries at sea. Thanh Hoa is among provinces that will be inspected during the fifth working round with the inspection delegation from the European Commission (EC) in May./. Source: Vietnam News Agency LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES), South Korea's leading battery maker, said Thursday its research and development (R and D) investments exceeded 1 trillion won (US$760 million) for the first time last year despite faltering demand for electric vehicles (EVs). LGES' investments in R and D activities jumped 18.4 percent to 1.037 trillion won in 2023 from 876 billion won a year earlier, according to the company's 2023 business report. To secure "unrivaled competitiveness" in the battery sector, the company said it will continue to expand R and D investments this year. Separately from R and D spending, LGES injected 10.89 trillion won in production facilities last year, jumping 73 percent from 6.29 trillion won the previous year. LGES earlier expected the EV market will grow by a mid range of 20 percent this year, slowing down from a previous average annual growth of 30 percent, amid a downturn in the global economy. To ride out unfriendly market conditions, it plans to strengthen its product portfolio by addi ng nickel-rich NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) lithium-ion batteries, as well as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. An LFP battery is a type of lithium-ion battery known for its enhanced safety features, high energy density and longer life span. In North America, LGES currently operates two plants in Ohio and Michigan, with six factories, including one in Canada, to be completed in coming years. In addition, the company operates one plant in South Korea, one in Poland and one in China, while preparing to start operations at its Indonesian plant this year. Source: Yonhap News Agency