The European Commission (EC) appreciated the Vietnamese government’s efforts in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, but requested authorities to make better performance in IUU fishing detection and penalization, Vietnam’ agriculture minister has said. 

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien was speaking on Friday while briefing on the results of the inspection by a 12-member EC mission over anti-IUU fishing in Vietnam from October 10-18.

This was the fourth inspection, conducted in coastal Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Dinh Provinces, by EC since it imposed a IUU fishing ‘yellow’ warning on the Vietnamese seafood industry in 2017.

The EC mission highly valued the Vietnamese government’s determination, directions and instructions in anti-IUU fishing and recognized that the shift from spontaneous fishing to responsible fishing in Vietnam has been much improved.

The inspection team also agreed to two draft government decrees that provide measures to effectively enforce the Law on Fisheries and stipulate administrative penalties in the fishery sector, as part of the government’s efforts in combating IUU fishing, Tien said. 

However, the enforcement results of such policies in some localities have remained modest in monitoring law compliance by fishing vessels and in punishing violations and frauds, the minister stated 

EC inspectors therefore asked authorities to strictly prohibit local vessels from illegally fishing in foreign waters, avoid loss of connection with fishing boats for ten days, and eliminate the “three-nos” for ships: no inspection, no registration and no license.

The team also noted that the IUU fishing penalty rates were still very low, Minister Tien added. 

Authorities must strengthen control of aquatic materials imported by container ships to ensure such materials are not resulted from possible IUU fishing by other countries, the team advised.

Inspectors requested authorities of all coastal localities seriously enforce relevant regulations in the Law on Fisheries, especially the rules on vessel monitoring systems (VMS) installation as well as on vessel registration, licensing and marking, the minister reported.

In addition, any organizations or individuals that do not fulfill their assigned responsibilities and tasks related to anti-IUU fishing must be firmly punished.  

Tien said that the mission will report the inspection results to the EC’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries before a decision on removing the ‘yellow card’ warning for Vietnam may be considered.

It is expected that the next EC inspection will take place in May or June 2024, the minister notified, calling for more continued efforts by authorities of coastal provinces and cities in the fight against IUU fishing so that the ‘yellow card’ can be lifted soon.  

The ministry will put the electronic origin tracing system into use quickly, send task forces to localities to monitor efforts in enforcing anti-IUU laws, and propose penalties for any violators, Tien added.

He requested that all localities with VMS equipment must assign staff on duty around the clock to early detect ships illegally leaving Vietnam’s waters and cases of loss of connection.

“Stronger measures should be in place to prevent fishing boats from illegally fishing in foreign waters,” the minister stressed.

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