Handling 100% of the remaining IUU fishing violation

According to the report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, as of November 15, the total number of existing fishing vessels in localities registered and updated on the National Fisheries Database (VNFishbase) is 79,360 out of 79,360 vessels (achieving 100%), and the rate of fishing licenses issued is 76,811 out of 79,360 vessels.

The number of vessels ineligible for operation has been controlled by localities and assigned to communes/wards, forces, and management officers responsible for the vessels' anchoring locations. Cumulatively from the beginning of 2024 to November 15, 2025, police agencies prosecuted 91 criminal cases for IUU violations, indicted 136 defendants; and brought 48 cases and 101 defendants to trial.

Related to this issue, the Government has just issued Decree 301/2025/ND-CP dated November 17, 2025, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 38/2024/ND-CP stipulating administrative penalties in the field of fisheries (referred to as Decree 301/2025).

Increasing the fines for violations of regulations on fishing zones

Accordingly, Decree 301/2025 supplements a number of remedial measures applicable in the fisheries sector compared to Decree 38/2024.

In addition, violating fishing vessels are required to fully equip communication devices on board, fix technical errors in vessel monitoring systems (VMS), be compelled to fully transmit VMS data to the Vessel Monitoring System, and ship owners are forced to install VMS devices on their vessels.

For serious violations in fishing, Decree 301/2025 stipulates an additional fine level of 500 million VND to 700 million VND for the act of failing to record fishing logbooks or recording them inaccurately compared to the requirements of the regional fisheries organization.

For violations of regulations on fishing zones, Decree 301/2025 increases the fine to 10 - 20 million VND (the old regulation fined from 5 - 10 million VND) for captains who use fishing vessels with a maximum length of under 12m to exploit fisheries in the coastal areas of other provinces or cities, except in cases where there is an agreement between the People's Committees of the two provinces or cities.

A fine of 20 - 30 million VND (the old regulation fined from 10 - 15 million VND) for the captain who uses a fishing vessel with a maximum length of under 12m to fish in the inshore zone or offshore zone.

A fine of 30 - 40 million VND (the old regulation fined from 15 - 20 million VND) for the captain who uses a fishing vessel with a maximum length from 12m to under 15m to fish in the coastal zone or offshore zone.

A fine of 50 - 70 million VND (the old regulation fined from 20 - 30 million VND) for the ship owner and captain who use a fishing vessel with a maximum length from 15m to under 24m to fish in the coastal zone or inshore zone.

A fine of 80 - 100 million VND (the old regulation fined from 30 - 40 million VND) for the ship owner and captain who use a fishing vessel with a maximum length of 24m or more to fish in the coastal zone or inshore zone.

Removing VMS at sea risks fines up to 100 million VND

The Decree also imposes a fine of 50 - 100 million VND on organizations or individuals for removing the vessel monitoring system (VMS) device on a fishing vessel while the vessel is operating at sea, provided the act does not constitute a criminal offense.

This fine also applies to illegally storing or transporting VMS devices belonging to other fishing vessels, provided the act does not constitute a criminal offense, or illegally transmitting data from a fishing vessel's VMS device.

Additionally, the ship owner and captain face a fine of 100 - 300 million VND for the following acts, when operating fishing vessels with a maximum length from 15m to under 24m: Failing to maintain the transmission of information from the VMS device to the Vessel Monitoring System as regulated; Disabling the VMS device on the fishing vessel; Operating the fishing vessel without a VMS device on board.

A fine of 300 - 400 million VND applies to the act of failing to bring the vessel to port for repairs within 10 days of the VMS device failing, for fishing vessels with a maximum length of 24m or more.

The VMS device service provider faces a fine of 100 - 300 million VND if they fail to comply with the competent authority's request to fix signal errors of the VMS device they supplied, or if they fail to send or send incomplete VMS data that has not yet been submitted to the fishing vessel monitoring data center under the state management agency for fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

The above fine levels apply to individuals; in cases where an organization commits the same violation as an individual, the fine level is twice the fine level for an individual.

$ 1 = VND 26.380 - Source: Vietcombank.