Coastal Provinces’ Efforts Against IUU Fishing Yield Positive Results

The south-central province of Binh Thuan has achieved significant progress in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as reported by Nguyen Van Chien, Vice Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, to a working group from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) during a session on May 29.

Chien highlighted the mobilization of the entire political system in the province, focusing on urgent solutions aligned with the Prime Minister’s directives. Due to close monitoring of the local fishing fleet, particularly high-risk vessels, no fishing vessels have violated foreign waters since early 2023.

So far, 1,942 out of 1,953 local fishing vessels longer than 15 meters have installed the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The remaining 11 vessels are currently out of service. The province has updated the data of 5,935 fishing boats longer than 6 meters to the national fishing vessel registration system Vnfishbase and issued fisheries exploitation licenses to 3,290 vessels, with the rest awaiting new licenses after their old ones expired on April 30.

Additionally, Binh Thuan has enforced strict penalties for IUU fishing violations. Last year, the provincial Sub-Department of Fisheries sanctioned 378 cases, collecting fines totaling 3.5 billion VND (137,484 USD), while the provincial Border Guard Command sanctioned 197 cases with fines amounting to 650 million VND.

During the session, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, also deputy head of the National Steering Committee for IUU Fishing Prevention and Control, urged Binh Thuan to intensify its efforts, particularly in addressing violations. He emphasized the need for decisive actions from now until September to lift the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning on Vietnamese seafood exports.

Earlier, the MARD’s working group inspected IUU prevention and control measures at two fishing ports and several agencies in Binh Thuan.

Similarly, the central province of Nghe An, with over 80km of coastline and nearly 3,400 fishing vessels, has demonstrated strong performance in IUU fishing prevention. Currently, 2,450 local fishing vessels longer than 6 meters have been registered, accounting for 97.69% of the total vessels subject to registration.

Nghe An has issued a plan detailing targets, tasks, and solutions from the Government’s Resolution No. 52/NQ-CP and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat’s Directive 32-CT/TW. The plan emphasizes strengthening Party leadership over IUU prevention and promoting sustainable development in the fishery sector.

Under this plan, the provincial People’s Committee has directed local administrations, agencies, organizations, and individuals to actively prevent IUU violations from the outset, manage the local fishing boat fleet closely, and strictly enforce regulations. Local authorities are required to monitor 100% of operating fishing vessels and conduct regular sea patrols, with strict penalties for non-compliance.