The 24th meeting of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing

View of the meeting at the Dak Lak province bridge.

Attending at the Dak Lak province bridge were Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thien Van, along with leaders of departments, branches and coastal localities.

Reporting at the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that from November 25 to December 1, 2025, ministries, branches and localities have completed 101/101 assigned tasks under the direction of the Government. Regarding fleet management, 100% of the total number of fishing vessels in localities have registered and updated on Vnfishbase. Regarding the management of fishing activities, during the week, localities inspected and monitored 1,660 ships leaving ports and 1,457 ships arriving at ports, recording aquatic product output through the eCDT system reaching more than 3,113 tons. In addition, 195 aquatic product receipts through ports, 29 aquatic product raw material certificates and 1 aquatic product exploitation certificate on eCDT were issued at 51 fishing ports qualified to certify exploited aquatic product raw materials.

During the week, no fishing vessels violating foreign waters were arrested, authorities tried 2 cases/3 defendants; handled 100% of fishing vessels found to have lost connection for 6 hours, lost connection for more than 10 days at sea, of which 18.46 vessels were fined, 81.54% were closed without fine; propaganda work on combating IUU fishing had some changes.

In Dak Lak, fishing vessel management is strictly implemented. The province has 2,553 fishing vessels registered in the national fisheries database; 100% of vessels are marked and have license plates according to regulations; 20 vessels are in the process of obtaining fishing licenses; 15 vessels have expired technical safety certificates; 18 vessels have food safety certificates. Currently, local authorities are closely monitoring and managing to ensure that these vessels do not participate in fishing activities when they do not meet the prescribed conditions.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha speaks at the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested ministries, branches, units and localities to complete verification and clarification of the European Commission (EC)'s reflection on the number of IUU fishing vessels before December 15; assess the causes, clearly identify the behavior of fishing vessels violating (if any), and strictly handle them. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment reviewed the Fisheries Law to have a basis for proposing supplements and improvements to ensure its effectiveness, efficiency, and compliance with international regulations; reviewed the fisheries database, focusing on completing the data, ensuring it is correct, sufficient, clean, and alive.

The Deputy Prime Minister also requested relevant ministries and branches to establish inspection teams for localities, fishing ports, and fishing vessel owners; thereby promptly detecting and grasping difficulties, limitations, violations, root causes, and having solutions to thoroughly handle IUU violations. Ministries, branches, and localities must take drastic, synchronous, and urgent actions to fully respond to the EC's recommendations as soon as possible.

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