Positive changes in anti-IUU fishing: Promote technology and digital transformation

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Mr. Le Cong Hung (living in Ward 11, Vung Tau city), with a 350 CV fishing vessel catching anchovies, has started a business in Vung Tau for nearly 30 years. He, along with 47 other members of the same profession, gathered and established the Hai Dang Anchovy Union in 2016.

"Since then, we have tried to set sail and invest to develop the profession. At first, the technology was low, so the fishing output was only about 200 tons/year. After I invested in machinery and improved fishing technology continuously over the years, the efficiency of exploitation grew an average of 10-15%/year,” Mr. Hung shared.

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After digital transformation, Mr. Hung's vessel has a full range of locators, fish finders, radar, radio communication, and semi-automatic net-pulling and hydraulic driving systems. In 2024, Mr. Hung also invested VND 1.65 billion to replace the old fish finder with a fishing camera of higher technology, which could detect fish flows within a radius of more than 1km at a depth of 15-17m. As a result, the fishing output in 2024 reached over 800 tons, up more than 70% compared to 2023. With the average selling price of VND 10,000/kg, after deducting expenses, he earned a profit of over VND 2 billion.

Similarly, a fleet of 3 offshore fishing vessels of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ngoc's family (Ward 2, Vung Tau city) not only has a tunnel preserving fish according to CPF technology with composite materials but also is invested in a net grid with a length of 15km (previously only 10km) and better net material (worth more than VND 4 billion). The entire stage of dropping and collecting the net is mechanized, along with a good locator and a seawater purifier to make fresh water.

Additionally, Mr. Ngoc also digitized all activities to declare the import and export information and record electronic fishing logs. For more than 1 year, Mr. Ngoc's fishing vessels, when setting sail, have all recorded electronic fishing logs through Synergy Development Viet Co., Ltd.'s Soba application on mobile phones. At the same time, declare information on export and import through the eCDT VN application of the Fisheries Sub-Department. "Although it was 'embarrassing' at first, we are now used to it and very supportive because it is convenient, very fast, and transparent," Mr. Ngoc said.

In mid-March 2025, the Department of Agriculture and Environment held a conference to deeply deploy the digital transformation in managing and supervising fishing activities for industry managers, fishing ports, and the Fisheries Association in the province. At the conference, Synergy Development Viet Company introduced the fisheries data digitalization management software at the port and provided technological guidance in digital transformation to fisheries, recording electronic fishing logs, and declaring the location of the fishing vessel losing connection via the Soba application software.

Digital transformation in the whole industry

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, digital transformation in the anti-IUU fishing work is being implemented synchronously in localities, functional agencies, fishermen, and fishing ports in the management of fishing fleets, output supervision, traceability of exploited seafood, and violation handling.

At each stage, there is separate software deployed from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for localities across the country to report and daily update information. With this, all data, information, records, and activities of fishing vessels (at sea and on the shore) and the handling of violations are updated to the National Fisheries Database System (VnFishbase). This is one of the recommendations of the European Commission (EC) to remove the IUU "yellow card" in the upcoming inspection.

Mr. Cu Duy Cao Vy, representative of the Management Board of Ben Loi-Binh Chau Fishing Port (Xuyen Moc district), said that most of the fishing vessels use the national electronic traceability system (eCDT VN software) to declare and import data as records for fishing vessels to export and import.

Through this software, the fishing port also reports the number of fishing vessels in and out of the port every day with sufficient valid documents, the number of seafood loadings through the port, and the issuance of a certificate of exploited seafood origin for businesses buying raw materials for processing and export to the EU market.

Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has three fisheries management softwares, including fishing port management software, fishing vessel management software (through the cruise monitoring system), and IUU violation handling software. These softwares are independent from each other. To be able to integrate these 3 softwares and manage the local fishing fleet better, in 2024, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province has implemented the construction of software to manage fishing vessels, trace the origin of exploited seafood, and sanction violations, contributing to lifting the EC's warning of IUU "yellow card."

Mr. Nguyen Ky, Deputy Director of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Department of Science and Technology, said that in addition to connecting data from three software programs of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the province's fishing vessel management software also developed more features suitable to the locality's management needs.

So far, the software has basically been used at https://gstcvtu.vtctelecom.com.vn/ with some basic features, such as supervising and searching fishing vessels; managing warnings, reporting violations, and integrating smart warning systems; and managing fishing operations at sea and vessels lying on the shore (vessels that are not eligible for exploitation, "3 Nos" vessels, damaged and rotten vessels, etc.) according to each locality and the size of the ship.

According to the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Department of Science and Technology, the province's fishing vessel management software has now been connected and synchronized data from fishing vessel monitoring systems, the national fisheries database, and the national electronic fishing log.

Currently, the Department has cooperated with the Provincial Fisheries Sub-Department to update the fishing vessel management data on the software with 48  information fields according to the frequency suitable for the locality's management needs at the website https://ioc.baria-vungtau.gov.vn or the IOC application on smart mobile devices.

* USD 1 = VND 25,570 (Exchange rate updated on April 4, 2025; Source: Vietcombank)