The Prime Minister requested that localities urgently issue policies to facilitate job retraining and create sustainable livelihoods for fishermen.

Comrades Vo Trong Hai - 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.

Also attending was Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

Nghe An has completed 17 out of 19 tasks assigned by the Government.

According to the Steering Committee's report, as of November 21, 2025, ministries, sectors, and localities had been assigned 99 tasks, of which 85 had been completed and 14 were being implemented regularly.

The Vnfishbase database has been updated to include all 79,295 fishing vessels nationwide. For fishing vessels that do not meet the operating requirements, local authorities have demarcated areas and assigned commune/ward governments to manage their mooring locations.

No violations of foreign territorial waters occurred last week. Enforcement of violations was carried out rigorously. The Ministry of Public Security reported that during the week, it tried 9 cases involving 16 defendants related to the crimes of "Organizing illegal entry and exit for others" and "Obstructing or disrupting the operation of telecommunications and electronic networks."

Regarding violations of vessel tracking systems, from 2024 to November 21, 2025, 21,873 instances of vessels losing connection or exceeding permitted boundaries were detected nationwide; to date, 21,865 cases have been processed, achieving a 99.97% success rate.

With an 82km long coastline and more than 2,600 large-capacity fishing vessels, Nghe An province recognizes that combating IUU fishing is not only a state management task but also a responsibility in protecting aquatic resources and maintaining the national image in the face of the European Commission's demand to lift the "yellow card".

On November 19th, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee held a meeting, requesting the simultaneous implementation of solutions and the mobilization of the entire political system.

To date, Nghe An province has completed 17 out of 19 tasks assigned by the Government; the remaining two tasks are ongoing and are being implemented. The province has registered, inspected, and licensed 100% of fishing vessels that meet the operating requirements.

Currently, there are 8 fishing vessels in the province that do not meet the requirements to go to sea, mainly because the owners do not need them or the vessels are undergoing repairs; these vessels have been handed over to local authorities and the Border Guard for strict management, absolutely prohibiting them from equipping themselves with fishing gear or leaving port.

The province has also completed the installation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) on 100% of fishing vessels over 15m in operation and maintains continuous 24/7 monitoring and warning.

Four Type II fishing ports and one Type III fishing port have also been put into operation; at the same time, a proposal has been made to invest in and upgrade six other fishing ports.

The verification and traceability process has been implemented rigorously; all shipments passing through the port are updated on the eCDT electronic traceability system. The province has completely resolved 100% of detected violations related to VMS and border crossings.

DMaintain a state of readiness to welcome the EC inspection team.

Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh acknowledged the serious, urgent, and effective work of the ministries, sectors, and localities. The opinions expressed at the meeting demonstrated a high level of determination in preventing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and efforts to lift the European Commission's (EC) "yellow card" by 2025.

The Prime Minister stated that it has been more than a month since the issuance of the Action Plan for the Month of Intensive Action against IUU and Sustainable Development of the Fisheries Sector.

By this time, all tasks in the plan have reached their deadlines; therefore, the comrade requested that ministries, sectors, and localities conduct a thorough review, and any uncompleted tasks must be reported to the Prime Minister before November 30th.

He emphasized: The heads of ministries, departments, and localities must bear direct and comprehensive responsibility before the Government and the Prime Minister if the situation of fishing vessels violating regulations recurs or if the progress of lifting the "yellow card" is delayed.

In addition, agencies must strictly adhere to the reporting regime on the results of the fight against IUU fishing, including weekly reports, ad hoc reports, and periodic reports to the Steering Committee; and at the same time, organize a review of the peak month.

The Prime Minister requested that data be fully and accurately updated in the fisheries database systems, considering this a mandatory condition to ensure the management, monitoring, and traceability of aquatic products.

In particular, ministries, departments, and localities must maintain a state of readiness to welcome the EC inspection team, providing complete, consistent, and synchronized information.

For coastal provinces and cities, the Prime Minister requested that they proactively monitor the situation; provide decisive and comprehensive leadership and direction, and prevent any negative incidents from arising that could affect the overall efforts of the entire country.

Inspections must be conducted daily and weekly; 100% of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports must be closely monitored; and vessels that do not meet the requirements must be resolutely prevented from going to sea.

The Prime Minister instructed localities to update the list of high-risk vessels weekly for warning and strict management; to monitor the activities of fishing vessels at sea 24/7, and to promptly contact vessel owners and captains to prevent loss of monitoring equipment connection or crossing fishing boundaries.

Local authorities need to coordinate with Viettel to deploy modern monitoring equipment; if there is a lack of funding, they must report it immediately for resolution.

Another important task is to complete the handling of all cases involving fishing vessels and fishermen detained by foreign countries, ensuring that this is finalized before November 30, 2025.

At the same time, localities must urgently issue policies on vocational retraining and creating sustainable livelihoods for fishermen, also within the deadline of November 30th; currently, only 2 out of 22 provinces have implemented this.