Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered a decisive crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) to have the European Commission's yellow card against Vietnamese seafood exports lifted this year.

In his conclusion at the 16th session of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing on October 7, with virtual participation from 21 coastal cities and provinces, the Government leader hailed relevant ministries and localities for their serious efforts in addressing IUU fishing.

As a result, the number of unlicensed vessels has declined, non-compliant fishing boats have decreased, vessels equipped with vessel monitoring systems (VMS) have increased, and no new cases of disconnected boats, boundary violations, or foreign detentions have been reported.

However, he candidly noted that progress has remained slow compared to the requirements and directives of the PM.

The PM has requested leaders of the 21 provinces and cities to directly oversee the full installation of VMS on fishing vessels.

The Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with the People’s Courts, relevant agencies, and local authorities, are ordered to promptly prosecute and adjudicate outstanding IUU violation cases in accordance with the law and the National Assembly’s resolutions.

He underlined the need to step up the sharing and integration of data on population, fisheries management, vessel tracking, violations, and seafood traceability.

The navy, border guard, fishery surveillance, and coast guard forces are requested to coordinate patrols and inspections to prevent IUU fishing violations.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment are tasked with urgently finalising and submitting to the PM a revised decree amending Decree 38 on administrative sanctions in the fisheries sector, ensuring measures are strong and deterrent enough to prevent IUU fishing practices. The work must be completed before October 15.

PM Chinh demanded a concrete plan and roadmap to implement his directives, ensuring that by November 15, 2025, four outstanding issues in combating IUU fishing are fully addressed, including fleet management; monitoring, controlling, and supervising fishing vessel activities; seafood traceability; and law enforcement and settlement of violations.

The PM asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and localities to sketch out a detailed plan to implement the designated tasks and solutions.

The ministry was also tasked with monitoring and reporting implementation progress on a weekly basis, with updates submitted before 14:00 every Tuesday and completion due by October 11.

It will also guide and urge ministries, sectors, and localities to report and compile results of the recommendations related to the “yellow card” warnings, and prepare a consolidated report to be submitted to the EC before October 15.

Additionally, the ministry will continue maintaining technical dialogues on combating IUU fishing and provide sufficient information to facilitate the EC’s fifth inspection mission.

The Ministry of Public Security was requested to direct and guide the thorough handling of violations involving fishing vessels that lose VMS connections, cross maritime boundaries, or operate illegally in foreign waters, particularly in key localities such as Ca Mau, An Giang, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Gia Lai, Lam Dong, and Dong Thap. The task is due by October 15.

The ministry will also instruct local police to work with relevant authorities to clearly identify the ownership of fishing vessels whose registrations have been revoked due to being reported missing, exported, sold, or donated, with the process to be completed before November 15.

At the same time, an application for managing fishing vessels and fishermen’s port entry and exit on the VNeID platform will be put into operation to facilitate fishermen’s activities and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of vessel and crew management as well as the handling of administrative violations. The task must be done before October 15.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to direct the collection of information on fishing vessels and fishermen currently detained by foreign authorities, at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, to support the handling of violations. The task is to be completed before October 10.

PM Chinh also assigned specific tasks to the ministries of national defence, finance, and science and technology, and media agencies.

Meanwhile, coastal localities were asked to allocate resources and rigorously implement measures to combat IUU fishing in line with instructions from the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, the Government, and the PM.

Local authorities need to take decisive actions to completely resolve the issue and submit reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment by October 14, the leader said.