Thanh Hoa synchronously deploys many solutions to build sustainable fisheries

It is expected that by the end of this year, the European Commission (EC) inspection team will visit Vietnam to inspect the implementation of requirements against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. As a locality with a developed fisheries industry and greatly affected by IUU regulations, Thanh Hoa has recently implemented many synchronous solutions to build a sustainable fishery, proactively joining the whole country in being ready to welcome the EC inspection team, aiming to remove the "yellow card" for fisheries.

Thời Đại•01/12/2025

Identifying the fight against IUU fishing as a key task, Thanh Hoa province has mobilized the combined strength of the entire political system, especially at the grassroots level, to firmly grasp key areas, strengthen propaganda and mobilization, promptly monitor, detect and prevent risks of violations.

Since September 23, 2025, the entire province has launched a campaign to combat IUU fishing, with the simultaneous participation of departments, branches and authorities of fishing communes and wards. Thanks to that, the management of fishing vessels has become more systematic; there have been no cases of vessels violating foreign waters being arrested and handled.

The province has achieved a rate of 100% of fishing vessels installing vessel monitoring systems (VMS) and maintaining 24/7 connectivity while operating at sea. Law enforcement has been strengthened, thoroughly handling 140 vessels that lost VMS connectivity from 2024 to November 11, 2025; closely monitoring 30 vessels that are not qualified to operate.

Authorities inspect fishing vessels at sea.

Authorities inspect fishing vessels at sea. (Photo: Thanh Hoa Province Fisheries Department)

Border guards and fisheries surveillance forces regularly coordinate patrols and inspections at inlets and at sea; resolutely not allowing ships to leave port that do not activate VMS devices or do not ensure the required conditions and documents. From the beginning of the year to November 21, 2025, authorities have fined 284 IUU violations with a total fine of more than VND 4.3 billion.

Thanks to the synchronous implementation, the violation situation has decreased significantly, and fishermen's awareness of law compliance has been raised. Mr. Le Cong Hong, owner of ship TH-90319-TS (Ngoc Son ward) shared: "Through propaganda from all levels, fishermen are increasingly aware of the harmful effects of illegal fishing and proactively comply with regulations such as keeping fishing logs, turning on VMS, not encroaching on foreign waters...".

Despite many advances, the locality still faces some difficulties, especially in controlling ships leaving and arriving at ports and monitoring the volume of seafood unloaded. The main reason is that the management software system has not synchronized data between VNeID, Vnfisbase and the electronic traceability system (eCDT); the implementation of eCDT at ports has not been unified; the software operation is not stable, especially when the technical parameters of the ship change.

At the end of this year, the EC inspection team will conduct the fifth inspection, focusing on overcoming the shortcomings mentioned in the previous inspection. Thanh Hoa is urgently completing documents, files, and technical specifications to demonstrate the effectiveness of implementing the EC's recommendations; at the same time, building a reception and coordination scenario to clearly demonstrate the province's determination in combating IUU fishing.

With the initiative, determination and close coordination of all levels and sectors, Thanh Hoa hopes to join the whole country in meeting the EC's requirements, contributing to removing the "yellow card" for Vietnamese seafood in the coming time.

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