Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City recorded no incidents of local fishing vessels encroaching on foreign waters in the first half of 2026, reflecting significant progress in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
This achievement underscores ongoing efforts to address maritime violations and bolsters the nation’s campaign to have the European Commission's “yellow card” warning on Vietnamese seafood exports lifted.
The information was shared at a conference reviewing IUU prevention and control efforts held by the municipal People’s Committee on June 10.
Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Environment Pham Thi Na said the city currently has 4,445 fishing vessels, including 2,197 offshore vessels, accounting for nearly half of the fleet. All vessels have been fully updated in the national fisheries database.
During the first six months of the year, the city’s steering committee for combating IUU fishing restructured its organisation, assigned responsibilities more clearly and established working groups to handle outstanding cases involving vessel monitoring system (VMS) disconnections recorded in 2024 and 2025.
A key achievement was the sharp decline in VMS disconnection cases. As of June 5, only 86 vessels showed signs of losing VMS connectivity, down nearly 70% from 254 vessels during the same period last year.
Na attributed the improvement to stricter enforcement and greater awareness among fishermen regarding compliance with fisheries regulations.
The city has also accelerated the licensing of fishing vessels. To date, 4,283 vessels, or 96.36% of the registered fleet, have been granted fishing licences. For vessels not yet eligible for operation, authorities have installed GPS devices to monitor their anchoring locations.
Management of fishing activities and seafood traceability has also been tightened. Since the beginning of the year, fishing ports and border guard stations have processed 15,869 vessel arrivals and departures through the electronic catch documentation and traceability system (eCDT), including 7,594 arrivals and 8,275 departures. More than 47,189 tonnes of seafood were landed through ports during the period.
“Thanks to coordinated efforts by authorities and enforcement agencies, no city-based fishing vessel had been detained for encroaching on foreign waters since the start of 2026,” Na said.
Challenges remain
Despite the positive results, IUU prevention efforts still face significant difficulties. Colonel Nguyen Duc Hieu, Deputy Commander for Legal Affairs of Coast Guard Region 3, said declining fishery resources in Vietnamese waters continue to place economic pressure on fishermen, increasing the risk of IUU fishing violations. Fishing grounds near maritime boundaries are often more productive, making compliance more difficult.
He also warned that violations are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with some fishermen deliberately disconnecting VMS devices for short periods to fish illegally. Authorities have additionally detected cases involving the swapping of monitoring devices between vessels and the exploitation of loopholes related to vessels under 15 metres in length that are not required to install VMS equipment.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Bui Minh Thanh said combating IUU fishing must be viewed as a long-term effort, urging authorities to address the root causes of violations, particularly the depletion of fishery resources and persistent management shortcomings.
In the second half of the year, the city will continue seafood tracing from departure to landing, while refusing origin certification for seafood caught by vessels violating VMS regulations or engaging in IUU fishing. It will also enhance cooperation with the Coast Guard and Border Guard forces to improve data sharing, monitoring and enforcement.
At the conference, the municipal leaders renewed coordination mechanisms with Coast Guard Regions 3 and 4 and signed a new coordination agreement with Border Guard Squadron 18 on combating IUU fishing./.
VNA
