Vietnam targets EC's IUU fishing 'yellow card' removal as top political priority: Deputy PM

Since the committee’s previous meeting in July, Vietnam has shifted from manual paperwork-based management to data-driven administration, establishing a nationwide system to manage IUU fishing and track the status of individual fishing vessels, he said.

The country has addressed many previous shortcomings, while the number of fishing vessels found violating regulations or detained by foreign authorities has fallen sharply.

Although these results were encouraging, he warned authorities against complacency, particularly in implementing the EC’s 38 recommendations.

He ordered strict compliance with five prohibitions: no foreign detentions of Vietnamese vessels; no unqualified boats allowed to operate; no unresolved violations of vessel monitoring systems; no untraceable seafood shipments; and no inaccurate reporting compared to actual records.

Deputy PM Dung urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to form a dedicated team to maintain regular communication with the EC and clarify outstanding issues, as well as replicate effective local practices.

The Ministry of National Defense was asked to deploy border guards to monitor ports and prevent violations in adjacent and overlapping maritime zones.

The Ministry of Public Security must intensify criminal investigations into fraudulent seafood origin and illegal fishing operations.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must provide timely information through diplomatic channels and Vietnam’s trade offices in Europe, with the aim of helping the EC understand Vietnam’s willingness to address concerns and recognize the progress made in combating IUU fishing.

Provinces and cities must launch comprehensive reviews, mobilize local forces to ensure that all relevant data are updated in the national VNFishbase fisheries database, and strictly control boats without valid licenses.

Following the EC’s fifth inspection of Vietnam’s efforts to combat IUU fishing, conducted from March 10 to 19 this year, the EC issued 38 recommendations requiring corrective action.

As of September 30, Vietnam had fully implemented 31 recommendations with verifiable results. 

Five others were still being addressed under specific road maps, while the other two remained under discussion with the EC because their requirements were considered inconsistent with Vietnam’s local conditions and legal framework.

Current figures show that 1,247 deregistered vessels may still exist and require verification and monitoring.

Another 5,586 vessels do not meet the requirements for operation, while 2,961 are classified as being at high risk of IUU violations.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also proposed measures to prepare for the EC’s upcoming sixth inspection, scheduled for this month, with Vietnam aiming to have the yellow card lifted this year.

In related news, Bui Minh Thanh, vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration, said the city had 385 fishing vessels ineligible to operate as of September. 

Most cases involved registration and inspection requirements, fishing licenses or overdue administrative procedures.

The city then adopted three measures to manage these vessels, including determining the precise status of each boat, monitoring vessels at their mooring locations, and assigning responsibilities to local administrations and maritime enforcement forces.

All vessels deemed ineligible to operate have now been anchored and tracked with coordinates and images, Thanh said.

The European Commission issued a yellow card to Vietnam in October 2017 over its failure to adequately combat IUU fishing. 

The warning did not ban seafood imports but placed Vietnamese fisheries under closer scrutiny.

Vietnam has since introduced measures to address the EU’s concerns, including stricter fishing regulations, vessel monitoring, and improved seafood traceability.