A new government initiative aims to restore Vietnam's reputation as a responsible player in the global seafood market and boost the sustainability of its fisheries.
The fight against IUU fishing must be carried out not for the sake of formality but for the sake of the people and Vietnam’s image as a responsible member of the international community, the Prime Minister has said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said that more than 95 per cent of Vietnamese fishing vessels have now installed vessel monitoring systems (VMS). However, efforts to remove the EU’s “yellow card” on Vietnam for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing face many difficulties, as some localities still neglect to supervise the local fleet, with the number of vessels violating international waters not falling significantly.
The European Commission (EC) will visit Vietnam at the end of October to assess the implementation of recommendations on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and aquaculture infrastructure. This is an opportunity for Vietnam to remove the IUU “yellow card” imposed by the EC. According to the “Prevention and combat against IUU fishing to 2025” project, which was recently approved by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, all fishing vessels operating at sea must be equipped with cruise monitoring equipment.