From the beginning of March 2026 to now, the Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Site Management Board in coordination with functional forces has discovered and handled many cases of carrying passengers participating in illegal squid fishing in Ha Long Bay.
In which, on the evening of March 22, in the Hon Con Cho sea area in Ha Long Bay, during patrol and control, the Patrol and Rescue Team of the Center for Safety Monitoring and Rescue (World Heritage Management Board of Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu) in coordination with the River Police Team, Traffic Police Department (Quang Ninh Provincial Police) discovered a fishing vessel with registration number QN-2351-TS showing signs of carrying passengers participating in illegal squid fishing activities.
The working group requested to immediately stop the violation, and at the same time bring all people and vehicles to the Ben Doan specialized port area to work and make a record of the incident.
In recent years, illegal night squid fishing activities by fishing boats or vehicles that do not meet conditions have appeared in Ha Long Bay, posing a high risk of loss of security and order, waterway traffic safety, especially when the weather is bad, affecting the environment and tourism image.
Even, such "underground" squid fishing tours are publicly advertised on social networks, with prices ranging from 700,000 to 1 million VND/person.
Functional agencies continuously detect, handle and propagate, but only temporarily subside for a while.
According to tourism workers in Quang Ninh, the night squid fishing tour on fishing boats is quite attractive, because fishermen know where and when there are squid. Tourists both experience squid fishing, process and enjoy it right on the boat.
Meanwhile, experiencing night squid fishing on overnight ships, although allowed, is quite boring because the anchoring locations for overnight ships often have no or very few squid.
“Occasionally we still receive requests to organize night squid fishing tours in Ha Long Bay, but we dare not do it because we are afraid of being fined and having our vehicles temporarily seized” - fisherman Nguyen Thanh Quyen, Ha Tu ward, said.
Representatives of functional agencies also admitted that tourists really like night squid fishing tours in Ha Long Bay, but to open this service, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Mr. Mai Vu Tuan - Head of the Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Management Board, said that for safety reasons, the unit continues to coordinate with relevant agencies to tighten the situation of spontaneous fishermen picking up guests for night fishing.
Quang Ninh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also issued documents on managing illegal squid fishing activities in the province. In which, it is requested that travel, tourism, and service businesses strengthen propaganda and raise awareness for employees, partners, tourists, relatives, and friends not to participate in illegal squid fishing experience tourism activities; not to organize, advertise, or advertise illegal squid fishing experience tourism activities in any form.
The risk of unsafety and security and order from "underground" night squid fishing tours in Ha Long Bay is very high. Among them, boats serving "underground" squid fishing tours for a long time are mostly converted fishing boats to carry passengers, often not meeting tourist ship standards, lacking technical inspection; many vehicles do not have enough life jackets, life-saving and rescue equipment. Operating again at night makes visibility limited, difficult to handle when encountering collisions, stranding or bad weather.
Spontaneous and unmanaged activities also easily lead to customer competition, soliciting, causing disorder at the wharf and on the bay, or "overcharging" prices...
