Thanh Hoa strives to remove IUU "yellow card"

Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Cao Van Cuong, along with representatives of departments, branches, functional forces and coastal localities of the province received and worked with the delegation.

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the anti-IUU fishing work of Thanh Hoa province has achieved many positive results. The province currently has 6,243 fishing vessels. All 1,014 offshore fishing vessels have installed vessel monitoring equipment (VMS), reaching a rate of 100%.

Comrade Cao Van Cuong, Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee received and worked with the working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. (Photo: Thanh Hoa Newspaper)

Mr. Cao Van Cuong, Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee received and worked with the working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment . (Photo: Thanh Hoa Newspaper)

All fishing vessels have completed registration, inspection, marking, number plates and entered into the National Fisheries Data System Vnfishbase. The Department of Agriculture and Environment said: no fishing vessels of the province have been recorded violating or being arrested while illegally fishing in other countries' waters. The rate of inspection and issuance of technical safety certificates has reached from 96.4% to 98.7%.

Since the beginning of 2025, the province's total aquatic product output has reached more than 117,515 tons, reaching 83.9% of the plan. Violation handling has also been strengthened. From the beginning of 2025 to November 5, 2025, the province has sanctioned 217 violations with a total fine of more than VND 2.91 billion. All fishing vessels that have been administratively sanctioned have been updated in the database.

Thanh Hoa has four fishing ports that have been announced to open, including Hoa Loc, Lach Hoi, Lang Bang and Hai Chau. Of these, three fishing ports have been designated as qualified to serve the confirmation and certification of aquatic product origin.

However, the fight against IUU fishing still has some shortcomings. The Department of Agriculture and Environment stated that the province still has 81 fishing vessels that are not qualified to operate. The situation of fishing vessels losing connection to VMS at sea for longer than the allowed time still occurs. Investment in fishing infrastructure is not synchronous, not meeting the EC's recommendations.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Cao Van Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, affirmed that Thanh Hoa province has mobilized the entire political system to join in the fight against IUU fishing. Mr. Cao Van Cuong requested the Department of Agriculture and Environment to quickly establish a Working Group. The Working Group must coordinate to completely handle all backlog of VMS disconnection cases before November 15, 2025.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to soon develop software to upgrade the infrastructure of the fishing vessel monitoring system. The software aims to ensure synchronization between the border guards, police and the agricultural sector.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien emphasized that Thanh Hoa province has made many efforts and created many positive changes. However, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment pointed out that the province still has some points that have not met the requirements according to the EC's recommendations.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien requested the province to focus on strictly controlling the fishing fleet, ensuring that all fishing vessels have valid licenses and VMS equipment operates regularly. The Deputy Minister requested to tighten the process of confirming and certifying the origin of aquatic products at fishing ports.

In particular, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien requested the province to prepare full documents and evidence to serve the inspection team of the European Commission (EC). The Deputy Minister emphasized that this is a key and regular political task to affirm the determination of the whole country to remove the IUU "yellow card".

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/thanh-hoa-no-luc-go-the-vang-iuu-217459.html