In 2 days from May 9 - May 10, 2026, at Tay Yen Commune People's Committee and Phu Quoc Special Zone People's Committee, An Giang province, Coast Guard Region 4 Command presided over and coordinated with relevant units to organize a "Presumptive Trial" to disseminate laws on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to officials and people in the area.
The activity is organized to visualize legal regulations through simulated situations close to reality, helping fishermen easily understand, remember and raise awareness of law compliance in the process of seafood exploitation at sea.
According to the simulated scenario, the two defendants N.N.T and L.A. T used 2 fishing boats to organize the illegal departure of 13 fishermen to foreign waters to exploit seafood 19 times to make illegal profits. To avoid being detected by functional agencies, the defendants repeatedly turned off the journey monitoring device, deleted and redrawn the fishing boat number. The prosecuting agency determined that defendant N.N.T was the mastermind and director; and defendant L.A. T was the active practitioner.
At the mock trial, the Trial Panel sentenced defendant N.N.T to 9 years and 6 months in prison and defendant L.A. T to 8 years in prison for two crimes of "Organizing for others to exit illegally" and "Disturbing the operation of electronic means".
A large number of local people and fishermen have directly followed the entire legal process, and at the same time understood more clearly the strict sanctions for IUU fishing violations. They also warned themselves, reminding each other not to violate so as not to get into legal trouble because their families have to take care of them.
Mr. Vo Van Hoang, residing in Kinh Xang hamlet, Tay Yen commune, said that he is the owner of 5 fishing boats operating from 2015 to now and has never violated illegal seafood exploitation in foreign waters. He participated in propaganda sessions and clearly recognized the consequences of IUU violations.
Fishing in foreign waters can bring higher profits but will seriously affect national prestige and Vietnam's seafood industry and myself. I always encourage everyone to exploit in the right fishing grounds, not to fish near the shore during the breeding season and not to infringe on foreign waters," Mr. Hoang shared.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, a fisherman, shared: "Watching the trial, I feel stunned, it feels like it's real. I think about my family, wife and children to try to work to earn money, but not to disregard violations to get into trouble with the law, it's even more miserable.
Mr. Huynh Van Dan, Chairman of Tay Yen Commune People's Committee, An Giang province, said that the locality identifies propaganda against IUU fishing as a particularly important task. Over the past time, the commune has implemented many forms of propaganda such as organizing seminars and integrating them into village meetings to raise awareness for people and fishermen.
According to Mr. Dan, the majority of fishermen in the area comply quite well with the regulations in seafood exploitation, but there are still some violations, so the locality continues to mobilize, remind and handle them according to legal regulations.
The Chairman of Tay Yen Commune People's Committee assessed that this "simulated trial" is of practical significance, creating a strong spread in the community, contributing to raising the sense of responsibility of fishermen in preventing and combating IUU fishing. This propaganda method also hits on the psychology of ship owners and fishermen so that they know if they violate, the consequences will be serious, the direct sufferers are themselves and indirectly affected are also their families.
Colonel Pham Viet Huan, Head of the Legal Department, Coast Guard Region 4 Command, said that in the past time, the unit has implemented diverse forms of propaganda against IUU fishing according to the policy of the Party, State, Government, Central Military Commission, Ministry of National Defense and Vietnam Coast Guard.
In addition to direct propaganda through patrols, inspections, and controls at sea and mass media, the unit also builds simulated court hearing programs, QR codes, banners, slogans at fishing ports and on fishermen's ships to bring the law closer to people.
The mock trial is a visual and vivid form of propaganda, helping people understand, remember, and absorb easily, thereby raising awareness of law compliance and contributing to effectively preventing serious violations of IUU fishing. When ship owners and fishermen understand the legal consequences of illegal seafood exploitation, they will be more aware to contribute to the whole country removing the "yellow card" of the European Commission (EC)", Colonel Pham Viet Huan expressed.
