Under the close supervision of the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), along with the tireless efforts of local authorities, Vietnam's fisheries sector has made significant progress after nearly seven years of striving to get the European Commission (EC)'s “yellow card” warning against Vietnamese seafood products lifted.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has demanded efforts be ramped up to eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing while leaders of poor-performing localities be stringently handled as a European Commission (EC) delegation will come to Vietnam for the fifth inspection this October.

The central province of Quang Tri is intensifying efforts to prevent illegal fishing activities in nearshore waters as part of its broader campaign against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

To have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” removed for Vietnamese seafood, relevant agencies and localities must handle vessels with disconnected vessel monitoring systems (VMS), Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said on August 7.

Australia imposes severe penalties against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, such as confiscating catches and involved vessels, an Australian expert has said.

Adnan Hussain, Director General of the Department of Fisheries Malaysia under Malaysia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and Sumathy Permal, head of the Centre of Maritime Security and Diplomacy (MSD) of Malaysia, have shared their experience in sustainable fisheries development and cooperation with Vietnam in the field.

Vietnam has taken measures to have the European Commission’s “yellow card” removed for Vietnamese seafood products regarding illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Veeramalla Anjaiah, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) and senior journalist based in Jakarta, has said.

Vietnam has made suitable efforts to clamp down on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing while striving to negotiate to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” removed.

Vietnam has shown high determination in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to have the European Commission’s “yellow card” against its fisheries sector removed, with many achievements and positive changes recorded since 2017, commented Nguyen Anh Thu, a researcher of the Blue Security Fellowship programme at Australia’s La Trobe University.

Vietnamese fishing vessels’ infringements of foreign waters have gradually decreased over the past years, which is the clearest demonstration of the border guard and other forces’ moves to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, an official has said.