Firm Determination to Prevent the Emergence of Fishing Vessels Involved in Illegal Fishing Activities
This was the directive issued by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Head of the National Steering Committee for combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, at the 27th meeting of the National IUU Steering Committee held on the afternoon of December 23.
The meeting was held online and connected to 21 coastal provinces and cities nationwide. At the Lam Dong venue, Mr. Le Trong Yen, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Standing Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee, chaired the meeting. Leaders of provincial departments, agencies, and sectors also attended.
According to the report presented at the conference, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has completed a draft report to be submitted to the European Commission on Vietnam’s progress in combating IUU fishing. At the same time, a database for managing “three-no” fishing vessels (vessels with no registration, no inspection, and no fishing license), vessels whose registration has been revoked, and vessels that are not eligible for fishing operations has been completed. These vessels have been integrated into the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) database for management purposes. During the week from December 14 to December 20, no Vietnamese fishing vessels were recorded as violating foreign waters nationwide.
In Lam Dong Province, as of December 19, 8,155 fishing vessels were recorded in the National Population Database (VNeID), accounting for 98.76%. The number of licensed fishing vessels reached 7,450 (90.73%), while 761 boats were not eligible for licensing.
The Department of Agriculture and Environment has notified local authorities and functional forces to coordinate in monitoring and handling these vessels in accordance with regulations.
Regarding violation handling, in 2024, the province recorded no fishing vessels violating foreign waters. On May 16, 2025, a fishing vessel under 15 meters in length, with five crew members, was seized by Malaysian authorities. The Provincial Border Guard Command advised the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee to impose an administrative fine of VND 900 million on the vessel owner for illegal fishing in foreign waters.
In his concluding remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha urged ministries, sectors, and localities to mobilize maximize resources and fully implement measures to combat IUU fishing. He emphasized maintaining strict control over fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, handling ships that do not meet operational requirements, and guiding vessel owners to submit fishing vessel and fishermen’s port entry and exit information through the VNeID system.
The Ministry of Public Security was tasked with directing local police to decisively resolve cases involving fishing vessels and fishermen detained by foreign countries, as well as brokerage networks facilitating illegal fishing abroad.
The Deputy Prime Minister instructed coastal provinces and cities to enforce regulations on vessel registration and fishing licenses strictly, compile lists, and implement stringent control measures against “three-no” vessels and vessels that fail to meet operational requirements at the commune and village levels, ensuring they cannot operate.
“Local authorities must direct functional forces to strengthen supervision, thoroughly handle cases of VMS signal loss and vessels exceeding permitted fishing boundaries at sea, and resolutely prevent the emergence of fishing vessels and fishermen engaged in illegal fishing activities in foreign waters,” Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha stressed.