Focus all efforts on preventing and ending IUU fishing.

The meeting was held in person at the Government Headquarters and online with 21 coastal provinces and cities. Also attending were Comrade Tran Hong Ha - Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Deputy Prime Minister; leaders of ministries, central agencies, members of the IUU Steering Committee; and leaders of coastal provinces and cities.

Comrades Le Hong Vinh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; and Nguyen Van De - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, co-chaired the meeting at the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee's location. Leaders from relevant departments and agencies also attended.

Nghe An completes 100% of the work on classifying, registering, and inspecting fishing vessels.

At the meeting, ministries, departments, and functional forces reported on the results of implementation following the 19th Session of the Steering Committee (October 28), focusing on the control of fishing vessels and fishermen violating regulations, and proposing measures to achieve better results in the coming period.

This shows that, over the past week, ministries, departments, and localities nationwide have continued to vigorously implement tasks and solutions to prevent and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

As of October 31, 2025, the country had 79,941 fishing vessels, of which 99.8% (79,800 vessels) were registered and updated in the national fisheries database (VNFishbase). During the week, 370 fishing vessels were deregistered due to dismantling, sinking, or disappearance.

Local authorities have reviewed and compiled a list of vessels that do not meet operating requirements, assigning local governments and functional forces to strictly manage mooring locations, only allowing them to go to sea when they fully meet safety and legal requirements.

In Nghe An province alone, 100% of the classification, registration, and inspection of fishing vessels has been completed; licenses have been issued/renewed for 100% of eligible fishing vessels. All fishing vessel data is updated on VNFishbase and the monitoring system, and is cross-referenced with the national population database VNeID to ensure accuracy.

The province has also completed 100% of the installation of vessel tracking devices, intensified inspections, and strictly penalized cases of intentionally disconnecting the devices, contributing to affirming the determination to "remove the EC yellow card" for Vietnam's fisheries sector.

Under no circumstances should ships with "three no's" (no proper documentation, no safety standards, no quality control, no safety certifications) be allowed to set sail.

In his concluding remarks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is not only a requirement for economic management but also concerns "the honor and prestige of the nation on the international stage," therefore, "it cannot be left undone and must be completed soon."

The Prime Minister highly appreciated the efforts of ministries, sectors, and localities in the past period, but requested that all continue to act more strongly and substantively, in the spirit of "6 clear points": Clear person, clear task, clear time, clear responsibility, clear output, and clear authority.

Regarding traceability documentation, the Prime Minister pointed out that this is a "weak link" and assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment the responsibility of resolving it completely; at the same time, he criticized localities that were slow in issuing fishing vessel licenses and demanded that they complete the process definitively next week, without allowing any prolonged backlog.

Regarding violations of foreign territorial waters, the Prime Minister requested that the remaining localities promptly transfer the files to the prosecuting authorities for investigation and strict handling in accordance with regulations.

The head of government directed the Ministry of Public Security to finalize the application for managing fishing vessels and fishermen. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment was instructed to coordinate in providing complete data, guiding localities in handling violations, and expedite investigations and criminal prosecutions of repeat offenders. Border Guard and Navy forces were requested to organize intensive inspection campaigns in key areas, strengthen patrols and crackdowns, and ensure that no "three-no" vessels (referring to vessels lacking proper documentation and permits) are operating.

Regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister assigned the task of leading negotiations and signing cooperation agreements on fisheries exploitation with Malaysia and other relevant countries. Simultaneously, the Ministry should regularly work with EC Ambassadors in Hanoi and in Europe to update and provide transparent information on Vietnam's efforts. "Weekly reports must be provided proactively to the other side, without waiting for them to ask," the Prime Minister demanded.

Government leaders have instructed coastal provinces and cities to focus all efforts on preventing and ending illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. First and foremost, strict control must be exercised over fishing vessels entering and leaving ports; unregistered vessels, those not meeting requirements, and those without vessel monitoring systems (VMS) must absolutely not be allowed to go out to sea. The list of vessels at risk of violations must be updated regularly.

Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the need for decisive, coordinated, and unified action to create a fundamental and substantive breakthrough in combating IUU fishing.

The overarching goal is to tightly control the fishing fleet, prevent violations, develop sustainable fisheries, and lift the EC's "yellow card" warning by 2025.