Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City is accelerating the installation and use of the electronic catch documentation and traceability system (eCDT), targeting its deployment on all fishing vessels by October 30, 2026, as part of efforts to tighten control over seafood origins and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Addressing a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for Combating IUU Fishing on September 21, Pham Thi Na, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Environment, reported that all local fishing vessels had been updated in the national fisheries database (VNFishbase) as of September 15, while nearly 95% of vessels of 15 metres or longer had been equipped with vessel monitoring systems (VMS).
Currently, 76.21% of fishing vessels use eCDT for port entry and departure procedures. The vessels yet to use the system are mainly nearshore vessels operating on short trips, particularly in Can Gio and Thanh An, which face difficulties accessing centralised fishing ports.
A roadmap is being developed to complete the implementation of eCDT for all fishing vessels no later than October 30, Na noted.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Bui Minh Thanh requested that eCDT implementation go beyond software installation to ensure that data on vessel departures, port arrivals, unloading volumes and catch documentation are updated fully, promptly and verifiably.
For areas where vessels cannot easily access centralised ports, the municipal authorities should urgently arrange temporary landing points to facilitate fishermen while preventing gaps in catch monitoring, he said.
Thanh also called for a shift from document-based management to management based on actual data, covering vessels, voyages, catches, landings and fishing logs.
Alongside eCDT, Ho Chi Minh City is promoting electronic fishing logs, with more than 80% of vessels currently using them. It aims to reach full coverage by November 30, earlier than the deadline. Digital logs are expected to reduce incomplete or inaccurate entries and create consistent data for origin certification.
The municipal authorities have also introduced support policies for fishermen regarding the costs of installing and using electronic logbook services.
However, digitalising certification still faces technical obstacles. Since June 1, fishing ports have issued electronic seafood certificates (SC) through eCDT, but businesses may use raw materials covered by both paper and electronic SCs. The system cannot yet issue electronic catch certificates (CC) for dossiers combining the two types, leaving some cases to be handled on paper.
This shows that traceability must be completed across the entire chain, from fishing vessels and ports to certification for processing and exports, Na said.
With the European Commission (EC)’s inspection approaching, Thanh urged agencies to shift from simply reporting implementation to ensuring substantive, comprehensive and continuous control, with no gaps in data.
As of September 15, the city had updated anchorage locations for all high-risk vessels and those ineligible to operate, and plans to complete GPS installation for all such vessels by September 30.
Thanh stressed that IUU fishing prevention must be conducted continuously rather than only ahead of inspections, with specific responsibilities, deadlines, and monitoring mechanisms assigned to each agency and locality, aiming to address existing shortcomings and remove the EC’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnamese seafood exports./.
