Countering illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a primarily important task to remove the European Commission's "yellow card" warning for the Vietnamese fisheries sector. To implement this task, one of the important measures is to improve the effectiveness of coordination between the Vietnam Coast Guard and relevant forces.

In October 2017, the European Commission (EC) imposed a "yellow card" warning on the Vietnam seafood industry for "lacking adequate measures to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing", adversely affecting not only the country’s seafood export but also its image and reputation both regionally and globally. Deeply understanding the consequences of the "yellow card" and in order to avoid the risk of a "red card", the Government of Vietnam has deployed several measures to limit and eventually eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. As the core force to implement those measures in accordance with Decision No. 377/QĐ-BCĐIUU dated 28 February 2020 of the Ministry of National Defence on the "Operating Regulations of the Ministry of National Defence's Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing", the Coast Guard Command determined that close coordination with forces operating at sea and local coastal authorities will contribute significantly to the implementation of assigned functions and tasks. Accordingly, the Vietnam Coast Guard has signed coordination agreements with: the Navy Command, the Border Guard Command, the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the Department of Fisheries Surveillance, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, to ensure security and safety at sea in general and prevent and combat IUU, in particular. At the same time, the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Vietnam Coast Guard signed a coordination plan to implement the mass mobilisation movement entitled "Coast Guards accompany fishermen" with 27 coastal provinces and Ho Chi Minh City, focusing on "supporting and helping fishermen to go offshore, stick to the sea, contributing to maintaining the security and sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland" and take part in the prevention and combat of IUU fishing.

The Vietnam Coast Guards and the Border Guards conduct propagation about IUU fishing for fishermen on Bach Long Vi Island (Photo: canhsatbien.vn)

In order to exercise the unified command in operation and coordination among forces, and to implement the direction of the Ministry of National Defence, the Vietnam Coast Guard has established a Joint Command Centre located at the Command of Coast Guard Region 4, consisting of servicemen of the Vietnam Coast Guard, the Navy, the Border Guard, and the Fisheries Surveillance commanded by the Vietnam Coast Guard. Its tasks include: closely coordinating with cooperating units and local authorities to grasp the situation of Vietnamese fishing vessels operating in sea areas; directly commanding forces in performing anti-IUU fishing tasks, promptly handling situations arise in line with the provisions of Vietnamese law and international treaties to which Vietnam is a member; curbing the violations of Vietnamese fishing vessels of the regulations on seafood exploitation.

Promoting its core role, the Vietnam Coast Guard has strengthened the inspection and supervision of anti-IUU fishing forces through the satellite system at the Vietnam Coast Guard Command Centre. In the field, the Vietnam Coast Guard, together with the Fisheries Surveillance and the standing militia, regularly patrol, inspect and control vessels to prevent them from IUU fishing in the waters bordering Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. In case a Vietnamese fishing vessel is arrested by foreign authorities, the Vietnam Coast Guard will coordinate with local authorities and relevant forces to quickly verify, investigate and clarify the location, behaviour and violators for coordinated handling. In order to contribute to enhancing fishermen's legal awareness when exploiting seafood, units have promoted legal dissemination and education in conjunction with the implementation of the programme entitled "The Coast Guards accompanies fishermen" during their patrol at sea. At the same time, they also coordinate with local authorities to ask fishing vessels that remove or switch off their voyage monitoring systems (VMS) to re-check the equipment and turn them back on. In 2024 alone, the entire force conducted propaganda about IUU fishing to a total of 24,062 Vietnamese fishing vessels. At the same time, it distributed more than 88,900 leaflets, over 31,600 legal handbooks on IUU, gave more than 1,350 personal buoys and 20,500 national flags to fishermen; inspected and fined IUU violators a total amount of over 23.5 billion VND.

In addition to the close coordination with domestic functional forces, the Vietnam Coast Guard also coordinates with law enforcement forces of neighbouring countries in preventing and combating IUU fishing. Based on the signed documents, the Vietnam Coast Guard regularly and proactively maintains contact with regional law enforcement forces of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and China to increase patrols and controls to prevent and combat IUU fishing and crimes and violations in border waters. Regularly maintain communication channels with law enforcement forces at sea with countries in the region to exchange, cooperate to improve capacity and share information on Vietnamese fishing vessels conducting IUU fishing. In meetings and working sessions with diplomatic officials of countries on related issues, the Vietnam Coast Guard regularly discusses contents on preventing and combating IUU fishing. In particular, it emphasises and requests information sharing to coordinate the handling and humane treatment of Vietnamese fishermen when they are arrested.

Thanks to the drastic participation of the authorities, fishermen’s awareness and perception have been raised. They are now aware of the consequences of IUU violations, thereby complying with regulations more seriously and cooperating with law enforcement forces better. The number of Vietnamese fishing vessels arrested and handled by foreign countries has decreased. As for 2017, there were 178 cases with 294 vessels and 2,398 fishermen, but by 2024, the number of cases decreased to 41  with 67 vessels and 452 fishermen. Currently, the EC said that it would not remove the "yellow card" if Vietnamese fishing vessels won’t stop violating IUU in foreign waters. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out synchronous solutions to end the situation, in which continuously improving the quality and effectiveness of coordination between the Vietnam Coast Guard and other forces in preventing and combating IUU is an important content:

Firstly, strengthening coordination in propaganda and awareness enhancement of subjects in preventing and combating IUU fishing. Accordingly, the Vietnam Coast Guard should closely coordinate with forces and authorities of coastal localities to continue to promote propaganda for subjects, such as: fishermen, ship owners, seafood processing enterprises, and consumers, on the consequences as well as forms of punishments for IUU fishing. To be effective, it is necessary to strengthen coordination with local newspapers, radio and television stations to propagate laws and regulations on preventing and combating IUU fishing as well as propaganda on the results of handling IUU violations. In particular, it is necessary to focus on ship owners and fishermen, who are directly involved in IUU fishing. For each targeted group, there should be appropriate forms of propaganda that are understandable, memorable, and feasible.

Second, mobilising service vessels with fishing vessels and fishery logistic vessels to monitor fishing activities. In the past, although the authorities have mobilised different means of ships and boats to prevent and combat IUU fishing, there were still many Vietnamese fishing vessels intruding foreign waters and detained by foreign authorities. For large sea areas with complex terrain including many islands, river mouths and inlets such as the Southwest sea, it is difficult to arrange enough service vessels along the entire route to prevent IUU fishing of Vietnamese in foreign waters. Therefore, it is necessary to combine service vessels with fishing vessels and fishery logistic vessels to monitor. The Vietnam Coast Guard continues to recommend that the Government support a number of fishing vessels and fishery logistics vessels so that, in addition to their main activities, they also take part in monitoring fishing vessel activities to provide information to service vessels and functional forces to promptly handle situations.

Third, closely coordinate with forces to strictly handle IUU fishing violators. Fishing vessels that have been detected violating IUU fishing must be strictly handled according to the provisions of the Fisheries Law No. 18/2017/QH14, dated 21 November 2017; Decree No. 37/2024/ND-CP, dated 4 April 2024 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP, dated 8 March 2019 guiding the implementation of the Fisheries Law; Decree No. 38/2024/ND-CP, dated 5 April 2024 replacing Decree No. 42/2019/ND-CP, dated 16 May 2019, regulating administrative sanctions in the fisheries sector. Sanctions should be consistent between agencies, forces and localities. For vessels violating the acts prescribed in Resolution No. 04/2024/NQ-HDTP, dated 12 June 2024 of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court, it is necessary to actively coordinate in the investigation to quickly bring them to trial for widespread deterrence in the whole society.

Combating IUU fishing represents an urgent and long-term task for Vietnam, requiring the involvement of the entire political system. Functional agencies, local authorities, seafood enterprises, ship owners, fishermen, and consumers should continue to coordinate to effectively prevent and combat IUU fishing. The purpose of preventing and combating IUU fishing is not simply to remove the EC's "yellow card" but to sustainably develop the Vietnamese seafood industry so that our future generations can still enjoy the benefits of natural seafood resources.

Major General LE DINH CUONG, Deputy Commander - Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Coast Guard Command