To decisively implement recommendations from the European Commission (EC) and carefully prepare for the 5th inspection team's visit, the Hai Phong City People's Committee has directed departments, sectors, and localities to focus on a comprehensive audit of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
Fishing Fleet at Bach Long Vi Island (Source: VOV)
On February 6, 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued Official Dispatch No. 1289/BNNMT-TSKN, requiring coastal provinces and cities to conduct a comprehensive review of efforts to rectify shortcomings in IUU combat. Immediately following this, on February 9, 2026, Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee Tran Van Quan issued instructions assigning specific tasks to units within Hai Phong for implementation.
According to the instructions, the City Inspectorate will lead and coordinate with relevant units to focus on urgent matters from 2024 to the present:
- Fleet Management: Checking the number of fishing vessels for registration, inspection, licensing, and marking; matching data between the VNFishbase system and the National Population Database (VNeID).
- Vessel Monitoring: Reviewing the list of vessels with installed Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS); organizing 24/24-hour duty shifts to track vessels that lose connection or cross designated boundaries at sea; ensuring port entry and exit data matches between fishing ports and border guard stations.
- Traceability: Monitoring the volume of seafood unloaded at ports; ensuring that confirmation and certification records for seafood exported to the European market match fishing logs and VMS data.
- Violation Handling: Decisively handling cases where fishing vessels lose VMS connection against regulations or violate foreign waters; fully updating penalty results into the National Administrative Violation Processing Data System.
The City People's Committee has tasked the Department of Agriculture and Environment with leading the detailed preparations for the working session with the EC's 5th Inspection Team. Specifically, functional agencies must ensure data consistency and cross-matching for vessel monitoring and traceability across all forces.
Localities with fishing fleets, such as Do Son ward, Thuy Nguyen, the Cat Hai special zone, andBach Long Vi, are required to coordinate closely with the Police and Border Guard forces to strictly control vessels that do not meet operational conditions.
The City Inspectorate is responsible for completing the inspection contents and reporting to the City People's Committee before March 6, 2026, for synthesis and submission to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. This is a vital effort by the Port City to join the entire country in soon removing the EC's "yellow card" against Vietnamese fisheries.