The 21st meeting of the National Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing

At the Hung Yen province bridge point, the meeting saw the presence of Comrade Nguyen Hung Nam, the Provincial Party Committee’s Member, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee on Combating IUU Fishing; leaders of relevant departments, branches and localities.

Comrade Nguyen Hung Nam, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and delegates attend the meeting at the provincial bridge point.

The report at the meeting showed that ministries, branches and localities have completed the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister. Many coastal localities have made positive changes in fleet management, voyage monitoring and confirmation of aquatic product origin, but there are still some vessels that have not completed registration and inspection documents, and voyage monitoring equipment is not stable.

To continue to strictly implement the Prime Minister's instructions at previous meetings, from November 5 to now, Hung Yen province has maintained good monitoring and management of fishing vessel and fishermen activities in the area. Up to now, all fishing vessels in the province have been fully updated with information, there have been no cases of violating foreign waters or being arrested by foreign authorities. Electronic declaration (eCDT VN) at port docking points is strictly conducted by fishermen; import and export data is automatically transmitted, helping to shorten control time and transparently trace the origin.

The Fisheries Surveillance, Border Guards and the People's Committees of communes with fishing activities have increased the frequency of patrols and inspections, thereby eliminating the situation of long-term disconnection of vessels; the cases of short signal loss are handled on the same day. Localities have applied digital platforms to manage fishing vessels: the information updated on Google Sheet helps commune and ward officials promptly grasp the list of fishing vessels with expired equipment and vessels requiring additional documents; Zalo groups managing fishing vessels continue to be effective in propaganda, weather warnings and safe anchoring operations.

The information and propaganda work against IUU fishing has been deployed synchronously. Since the beginning of November, 100% of vessel owners/captains have received warning and recommendation messages from the central management system and organized sessions to disseminate new regulations of Decree No. 37/2024/ND-CP in communes with fishing activities.

Notably, the Department of Agriculture and Environment is finalizing the draft Resolution of the Provincial People's Council on policies to support fishermen in dismantling old fishing vessels, supporting aquaculture at sea and upgrading voyage monitoring equipment, in order to encourage the conversion of fishing to marine farming, and sustainable aquaculture development.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: the strict performance of the direction of the Government and the National Steering Committee is a mandatory requirement, in order to put an end to IUU fishing, and soon remove the "yellow card" of the European Commission (EC); at the same time, affirming that this is the responsibility, honor, interests and prestige of the nation.

The Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to focus on leading and directing the contents of the EC's concern, both propagating, mobilizing and managing fishermen, converting occupations, and creating new livelihoods for fishermen. To prepare and unify the contents of documents and reports for the EC inspection team, clarify the draft report outline contents that the EC is interested in. To continue to strictly implement the weekly reporting regime; continue to strictly control fishing vessel activities at sea, manage journey data and trace the origin of aquatic products at ports, and prevent recurrence of old violations, especially fishing vessels losing connection or operating outside the permitted area. To continue to effectively implement the peak month against IUU, resolutely combat on violations, and be determined to remove the EC's "yellow card".

He also requested that provinces and cities focus on thoroughly handling these weaknesses in the fourth quarter of 2025.