The 27th meeting of the National Steering Committee on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing on December 24, 2025, in Hanoi. Photo: VOV

At the 27th meeting of the National Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing on Tuesday in Hanoi, the Ministry underscored the strict management and oversight of fishing vessels and activities. 10,897 deregistered fishing vessels have been listed and published in the database for monitoring and processing. No new fishing vessels were reported violating foreign waters during the week, it said.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested that the report be finalized quickly to be sent to the EC in a truthful and objective manner. It should focus on Vietnam's efforts in issuing regulations, increasing administrative penalties, handling unregistered vessels, and dealing with vessels seized criminally and fraudulent shipments, he said.

“The report must cover how serious we are in implementing the EC’s requests for investigation and verification. 34 provinces and cities must clearly state the situation, the work progress, the quantity compared to the EC's proposal, and to expand on what is currently being done. The report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is the document that the EC will later review, and the localities are required to take responsibility for the data and documents, ensuring consistency,” Mr. Ha added. 

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the report must show that 100% of fishing vessels with "three no's" (no registration, no inspection, no license) have been deleted, the data has been publicly released, and localities must take responsibility for the deleted fishing vessels. He stressed the need to connect fisheries data, administrative procedures, declaration, and origin verification with the official digital identity platform VNeID.

The Ministry of Public Security was urged to direct local police to expedite investigations and strictly handle networks involved in brokering and organizing the illegal fishing in foreign waters. The Ministry of National Defense was asked to maintain patrols in the waters bordering other countries, strictly control the entry and exit of fishing vessels, and resolutely prevent ineligible vessels from departing.