Building a transparent and responsible seafood industry

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , the European Commission (EC) will send the 5th inspection team to Vietnam (expected in November 2025) and it will be the final inspection team to remove the IUU "yellow card" for Vietnam's seafood industry.

Therefore, the complete end of IUU violations by 2025 is an urgent requirement as specified by the Prime Minister in Official Dispatch 198/CD-TTg and Decision 2510/QD-TTg. In particular, there are many directive documents requiring localities to launch a peak period, resolutely and thoroughly handle IUU violations, not to affect the country's reputation and image in the international arena.

Accordingly, ministries, branches and localities have urgently deployed tasks and solutions to combat IUU fishing under the direction of the Prime Minister and continued to have positive changes. In particular, the management of fishing vessels and monitoring of fishing activities have made remarkable progress. However, some localities still allow fishing vessels to not meet operating conditions; progress in completing origin tracing dossiers and national fisheries data is still limited...

Aquaculture area at sea in Xuan Dai Bay. Photo: Cong Nam

As for Dak Lak province, by the end of October 2025, the results of combating IUU fishing continued to record some positive changes. Currently, 100% of qualified fishing vessels are licensed to operate. For cases of fishing vessels that are not qualified to operate, localities have sealed them and assigned village self-management boards and residential groups to closely monitor the anchorage location, preventing violations from arising and recurring. The implementation of digitalization and identification has basically reached 100%, demonstrating a high sense of responsibility and determination in implementing the digital transformation task.

Dak Lak has shown the highest political determination, considering the fight against IUU fishing as a top political task, closely linked to national honor. Along with enhancing the responsibility of leaders, synchronous actions at the grassroots level are being vigorously deployed. Functional forces such as border guards, police, agriculture and environment sectors have tightened control of 100% of fishing vessels entering/exiting ports, and strictly handled vessels that lost VMS connection.

Removing the IUU "yellow card" is not the final destination but a mandatory opportunity for the fisheries sector to restructure. The Government's strategic viewpoint clearly states: Focus on converting from banned fishing to other fishing occupations to protect aquatic resources, from fishing to aquaculture (especially high-tech marine aquaculture) and other occupations to ensure jobs, income and livelihoods for people. This is considered a fundamental solution to reduce pressure on fishing at sea, protect resources and create sustainable livelihoods.

For Dak Lak, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned specific tasks to the Department of Agriculture and Environment to urgently review and assess the current situation of fishermen who need to change their careers; research and propose mechanisms and policies to support appropriate career changes, ensuring sustainable livelihoods for fishermen. Adjust and restructure fishing occupations in accordance with the exploitation capacity of aquatic resources in the direction of not developing and gradually reducing some types of fishing occupations that are unfriendly to resources and the environment, have low selectivity, and exploit immature aquatic products in coastal and inland waters.

An Hai Border Guard Station officers propagate and instruct fishermen on regulations against IUU fishing.

To restructure the aquaculture sector, Dak Lak province attracts investment projects to develop aquaculture in the direction of high technology. Currently, there are a number of projects being proposed for licensing such as: aquaculture in O Loan commune, with a proposed area of 60 hectares; investment project for aquaculture at sea by foreign-invested enterprises, with a total area of about 500 hectares...

After the reorganization of administrative units, localities with brackish water aquaculture areas are re-planning their farming areas. The farming area of Cu Mong lagoon and Xuan Dai bay by 2030 will be only about 350 hectares, including 50 hectares for seed production and high-tech farming in Xuan Hai and 80 hectares for high-tech farming in Xuan Binh. The brackish water shrimp farming area downstream of Ban Thach river will also be reduced to about 350 hectares by 2030...

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thien Van said that the province has issued a Plan to implement the National Program for the Protection and Development of Aquatic Resources in Dak Lak Province until 2030. One of the main objectives of the plan is to sustainably develop the fisheries sector with a structure of fishing vessels and fishing occupations suitable to the exploitation capacity of aquatic resources in the province; safe production, high economic efficiency, improving the lives of fishermen, contributing to the socio-economic development of the province.

The province will develop and issue policies to support fishermen in changing their occupations from invasive fishing activities that harm resources and ecosystems to environmentally friendly fishing activities associated with modernizing fishing vessels or moving out of the fishing field in accordance with the orientation of fisheries development and socio-economic conditions in the province.

Minh Thuan

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/kinh-te/202511/xay-dung-nganh-hang-thuy-san-minh-bach-va-trach-nhiem-f74115e/