Vietnam’s fishermen, businesses and government have joined hands in implementing fishing regulations, in a bid to have the European Commission (EC)’s illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing “yellow card” removed.

Competent authorities have handled violations relating to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) with fines amounting to hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong.

Vietnam exported 15,870 tonnes of tuna worth US$73.33 million to the European Union in the first half of 2021, up 39.3 % and 31.6 %, respectively, against the same period last year, according to a journal published by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The south-central province of Binh Thuan found no cases of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by local farmers from July 2019 to mid-2021, heard a conference on September 24.

Vietnam hopes to further foster agricultural collaboration with Belgium, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said at a meeting with the Belgium side in Brussels on September 9.

Vietnam must put an end to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in a bid to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” removed by the end of 2021, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a virtual meeting on the issue on September 7.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the World Bank (WB) in Vietnam on August 10 released “A Trade-Based Analysis of the Economic Impact of Non-Compliance with Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing: The Case of Vietnam”.

Tuna exporters are forecast to meet obstacles in the third quarter due to hike in transport costs and COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Public Security has been asked to seriously punish individuals and organisations working as brokers to bring Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen to overseas waters to illegally exploit aquatic resources.

The National Steering Committee on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Prevention and Control on July 13 held an online meeting with representatives of 28 coastal localities to discuss measures to continue to combat IUU fishing.