Hue City accelerates efforts and commits to combating IUU fishing

With significant marine potential, including more than 120 km of coastline, a total sea area of around 20,000 km2, five estuaries and the Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon system, the largest lagoon system in Southeast Asia, Hue City has identified combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing not only as an immediate goal but also as an important foundation for realizing its aspiration of comprehensive marine economic development.

Communication and awareness campaigns against IUU fishing are being strengthened in Hue City, in which the Department of Agriculture and Environment has distributed around 50 newsletters to residents and produced 6 television reports. The City Border Guard Command has organized 36 communication sessions with 1,058 participants.

The Sub-Department of Fisheries has printed 1,200 leaflets to distribute to vessel owners and captains to promote compliant fishing practices. Twenty groups and villages with large numbers of fishing vessels have signed commitments between villages, residential groups and households. Eleven communes and wards with fishing vessels have assigned specific responsibilities to each committee member, police officer, grassroots border guard and mass organizations to manage and monitor vessels that do not meet fishing activity requirements, and to review cases with signs of violations for handling, including past incidents that remain valid.

According to the Sub-Directorate of Fisheries of Hue City, the city currently has 998 fishing vessels registered and updated on the VNFishbase system (523 vessels from 6 m to under 12 m, 72 vessels from 12 m to under 15 m and 403 vessels over 15 m). All vessels have identification numbers and markings according to regulations (100%).

From January 1, 2025, to November 14, 100% of vessels from 15 m and above have recorded port departures and arrivals on the electronic traceability application (eCDT). The volume of seafood monitored through ports on the eCDT system is nearly 5,250 tons (100%).

The city has worked with two electronic logbook service providers for fishermen, GTO Software Solutions Joint Stock Company and Hiep Luc Phat Trien Viet SDVico Company, to continue installing and guiding fishermen in the use of electronic logbooks.

“People’s Committees of communes and wards with fishing vessels have implemented various measures to combat IUU fishing. The Sub-Department has deployed a fisheries inspection vessel from November 11 to November 25 to conduct an intensive patrol, inspection and communication campaign for vessel owners, captains and crew members to strictly enforce compliant fishing practices and prevent and handle cases of vessels that are not eligible for fishing operations”, said Tran Quang Nhat, Head of the Sub-Directorate of Fisheries of Hue City.

From January 1, 2024, to November 14, 2025, authorities in Hue City detected 7 violations (3 cases of crossing permitted boundaries and 4 cases of VMS disconnection) and imposed fines totaling VND 395 million. In mid-November alone, 2 cases were fined a total of VND 120 million. All penalties have been updated in the administrative violation database of the Department of Fisheries and the Fisheries Surveillance according to regulations.

Nguyen Dinh Duc, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hue City, said that weekly, the department issues notifications listing vessels at high risk of IUU violations to relevant units and updates them on the vessel monitoring system (VMS) database for law enforcement agencies to check and handle according to regulations. Daily, a 24/7 duty team monitors the VMS system to detect and notify vessels at risk of violating VMS regulations (crossing boundaries, losing connection at sea for more than 6 hours without reporting position, or losing connection at sea for more than 10 days without returning to port).

“Currently, 100% of vessels upon departure and arrival are inspected and monitored for catch volume as required, and all captains submit fishing logbooks and transshipment logbooks at ports. Notably, the City People’s Committee is directing strict handling of vessels unloading goods at private ports or unapproved fishing wharves”, Duc emphasized.

According to Hoang Hai Minh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hue City, the city considers combating IUU fishing a political, priority and urgent task that requires concentrated resources. In recent years, the city has consistently prioritized and directed relevant units to fully and effectively implement fisheries regulations, addressing shortcomings based on recommendations from the European Commission on combating IUU fishing.

“Hue will focus on strengthening investment in fisheries infrastructure, enhancing the capacity of fisheries surveillance forces, border guards and fisheries management agencies at all levels. The city is mobilizing its entire political system and securing the highest consensus from fishermen to work together with the country to remove the ‘yellow card’, develop a sustainable fisheries sector and contribute to making the marine economy an important pillar in the city’s development strategy in the coming period”, Minh emphasized.

* $1 = VND 26.401 - Source: Vietcombank.