Can Tho City People's Committee has just issued a document requesting relevant departments and branches to urgently strengthen the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, in order to strictly implement the Prime Minister's Official Dispatch No. 122/CD-TTg dated July 25, 2025.
Under the direction of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, the Directors of the Departments of Agriculture and Environment, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Science and Technology, Finance; Director of the City Police and Commander of the City Military Command were assigned the basis of their functions and tasks to implement the work of combating IUU fishing. At the same time, the units are responsible for synthesizing and reporting arising issues to the Government Office and the People's Committee of Can Tho City for timely and appropriate handling.
Previously, on July 25, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed and issued Official Dispatch No. 122/CD-TTg on strengthening the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In particular, the Chairmen of the People's Committees of coastal provinces and cities are required to be responsible to the Prime Minister if they do not complete the tasks of combating IUU fishing in the locality, affecting the common efforts to remove the EC's "IUU Yellow Card" warning for Vietnamese fisheries.
The Prime Minister requested localities to stabilize the apparatus of state management agencies for fisheries, clearly define the responsibilities of each agency, force, and individual, and regularly inspect and supervise the implementation results according to the two-level government mechanism.
The dispatch also emphasized reviewing, consolidating records and strictly handling cases of fishing vessels violating IUU fishing from 2024 to present, including administrative sanctions according to Decree No. 38/2024/ND-CP and criminal prosecution if there are signs of violations according to Resolution No. 04/2024/NQ-HDTP. The results must be reported to the National Steering Committee on IUU (through the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) before August 30, 2025.
The dispatch requires prosecution and trial of acts of sending fishing vessels and fishermen to illegally exploit in foreign waters or illegally transporting and installing voyage monitoring equipment (VMS); developing a peak plan to propagate, mobilize people and promptly prevent violations right at shore and at sea; at the same time, strictly handle individuals and organizations that shirk responsibility and do not fulfill their tasks in the work of preventing and combating IUU fishing.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, the whole city currently has 795 registered fishing vessels, with a total capacity of 209,648 CV; including 346 vessels 15m or longer and 28 fishing logistics service vessels. The city has updated 100% of fishing vessel data to the VNeID system. Monitoring fishing vessel activities at sea is carried out 24/7 via the VMS system; cases of disconnection are detected and promptly reported to the vessel owner for repair. From the beginning of 2024 to now, the locality has not recorded any cases of fishing vessels illegally exploiting seafood or crossing the border to operate in foreign waters.
