Will完善 software for managing fishing vessels to be easily accessible and user-friendly.
On the evening of January 6th, the National Steering Committee on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing held its 29th online meeting with ministries, agencies, and coastal localities. At this meeting, the Steering Committee requested that ministries and agencies promptly finalize an accessible and user-friendly software system for managing fishing vessels.
The conference, chaired from Hanoi, was led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Head of the National Steering Committee on IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) fishing. Also in attendance were representatives from various ministries, agencies, business associations, and coastal localities.
At the Nghe An location, Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment - presided over the meeting. Also attending were representatives from various departments, agencies, units, and coastal localities.
Review cases that have been closed for processing.
Implementing the Government's directives, last week, in addition to continuing to advise and submit to the Government and the Prime Minister the conclusions and announcements of the 28th session; advising on amending the regulations of Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP to strictly manage the installation, sealing, and software setup process of installing two VMS (Vehicle Monitoring System) devices on one fishing vessel; and amending regulations on the management of logistics service vessels for purchasing/selling assets at sea.
Regarding the handling of fishing vessels and fishermen violating foreign waters, no fishing vessels were recorded being seized by foreign countries this week. Over the past two years, out of a total of 92 fishing vessels seized by foreign countries, 62 have been processed, achieving a 67.39% success rate; 24 vessels are currently being processed in various localities, and there is no information yet on the seizure of 6 vessels from foreign countries.
Regarding the review of administrative violation penalty records, we continue to commend some localities with high rates of handling fishing vessels that have lost VMS connectivity and high penalty rates, while reminding localities with low penalty rates. Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has granted accounts for using fisheries data to relevant authorities. As of December 31, 2025, 11 out of 22 coastal localities have issued policies on occupational conversion in fishing; and 187 receipts for harvested seafood have been issued at ports.
At the conference, based on the proposed solutions for the following week from the Standing Office of the Steering Committee, representatives from ministries, sectors, businesses, and localities spoke to further clarify some specific cases that were difficult to handle and required consultation.
In Nghe An province, last week, along with the successful completion of 100% of assigned tasks, on December 31, 2025, the Provincial People's Committee approved the vocational retraining plan for fishermen; simultaneously, it established a working group to review and handle fishing vessels that have lost VMS connectivity and report before January 10, 2026; updated 2,632 out of 2,362 fishing vessels on Vnfishbase, granted licenses to 2,625 out of 2,632 fishing vessels, and assigned 7 vessels to anchor and not fish for local management and supervision. By January 2, 2026, 1,285 out of 1,288 fishing vessels that lost VMS connectivity for more than 6 hours and over 10 hours, exceeding the permitted fishing limits for the two years 2024-2025, had been dealt with; verification is underway for 3 vessels, including 2 that recently lost VMS connectivity at sea. The province has opened two training courses for captains and chief engineers, training over 560 fishermen.
完善 software for managing fishing vessels to be easily accessible and user-friendly.
Presiding over the working session, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Standing Committee of the IUU Steering Committee to promptly submit a plan to amend the Decree on the management of VMS equipment and administrative penalties for violations so that the Government can sign and issue it for immediate application in January 2026; he also requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to strengthen inspections and urge localities with high processing rates but low penalties to review their practices; the Ministry of Science and Technology to urgently complete the interconnected software for managing vessel data according to the principle of "correct - complete - clean - live" so that fishermen and relevant parties can easily access and use it; and to review the process to put this data system into operation without delay.
At the end of the meeting, after receiving reports from ministries, sectors, and localities, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha commended the localities and units for their efforts, proactiveness, and concrete results. He also requested that inspection teams and working groups report specific results upon completion of their inspections. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and localities must report on their preparations for weekly meetings with the Steering Committee and the European Commission (EC) clearly and accurately; each data point must have a justification. The development of software and data for fisheries management must be user-friendly and ensure that violations involving VMS disconnection are reported to the system and the central hotline, so that fishermen do not have to return to shore to report and authorities have a basis for processing the case. The Government Inspectorate was tasked with selecting localities and sectors to inspect the completion of case files for VMS disconnection violations and the management of vessels whose registrations have been deregistered; localities, especially the heads of provincial governments, must be held responsible for this.
