Sharing insights on efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the sustainable development direction for Vietnam's fisheries sector, Vu Duyen Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said that IUU fishing is the greatest threat to maintaining and conserving aquatic resources and marine biodiversity, causing severe environmental, and socio-economic impacts globally.

It also threatens food security, maritime security, sovereignty, and social justice, leading to transnational crimes. It is estimated that IUU fishing accounts for about 20% of the total global catch, equivalent to 15-25 million tonnes, Hai noted.

Vietnam is currently one of the top three countries in terms of aquatic export value, following China and Norway. It is also one of the seven countries with the largest seafood catch.

In recent years, the country has actively participated in several international organisations and agreements related to fisheries, such as the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU), and the Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices including to Combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Practices in the Region (RPOA-IUU); and has established a legal framework that aligns with international regulations to combat IUU fishing.

Vietnam is implementing a set of comprehensive measures to combat IUU fishing and develop sustainable fisheries, including managing registration and licensing fishing activities based on the national VNFishbase database; monitoring fishing vessel movements and establishing electronic traceability; strictly penalising violations; and digitising the entire fishing process to prevent the circulation, processing, and consumption of illegal aquatic products.

The interconnected data system ensures full management and transparent traceability, and prevents fraud, and is ready to connect with the international traceability systems such as the EU's CATCH system and FAO's CDS system. It also enforces a unified approach to prevent IUU fishing violations, with both administrative and criminal penalties to ensure strict enforcement, said Hai.

According to the official, international organisations and fisheries-related dialogue countries all recognise that Vietnam's current legal framework effectively ensures the fight against IUU fishing in a sustainable manner. Vietnam's legal provisions are aligned and harmonised with global regulations on anti-IUU fishing, as well as with those of the countries that it trades with.

Vietnam strengthens law enforcement to combat IUU fishing

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha has directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to urgently finalise and submit to the Prime Minister an emergency action plan to implement the European Commission’s (EC) recommendations on combating IUU fishing, in preparation for the EC’s fifth inspection mission.