Can Tho City People's Committee has just issued a Plan to peak the implementation of key and urgent tasks against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in preparation to work with the 5th European Commission (EC) Inspection Delegation in Can Tho City.
According to the plan, the city aims to strictly manage fishing vessels, trace the origin of aquatic products quickly and accurately and strictly handle violations, especially the situation of vessels losing connection to voyage monitoring devices (VMS) and fishing vessels violating foreign waters.
Can Tho City People's Committee requires completing registration, inspection, installation of VMS equipment and updating fishing vessel data to the VNFishbase system before September 30, 2025. Fishing vessels that are not qualified to operate will be managed to anchor, seal, and lock tightly to prevent illegal discharge.
Strictly manage and control the construction, conversion, and sale of fishing vessels. Strictly implement regulations on removing registration and re-registering fishing vessels; at the same time, strictly handle cases of buying, selling, transferring not to change owners or re-register fishing vessels.
The city also implemented strict control at fishing ports, determined not to let unqualified ships depart. The eCDT electronic traceability system will be applied to all fishing vessels from 15m or more to make the origin of aquatic products transparent.
Closely monitor the activities of fishing vessels at sea through the VMS, monitor 24/7 from the time the vessel departs to the port, promptly warn and handle vessels that are unconnected or show signs of crossing the fishing boundary.
Coordinate with the authorities of provinces, cities and enforcement forces at sea to manage and control fishing vessels operating and anchored outside the area, preventing violations from the beginning.
Notably, Can Tho will launch many peak periods of patrolling and checking at sea and at ports and fishing wharves; make a list and closely monitor fishing vessels and fishermen at high risk of violating foreign waters. Investigate, prosecute, and strictly handle fishing vessels violating foreign waters and fishing vessels crossing the border of exploitation areas at sea.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, the locality currently has 797 registered fishing vessels, with a total capacity of 210,377 CV, of which 347 vessels are 15 meters or more and 58 fishing logistics service vessels. 100% of ships have been granted licenses to exploit and update data on the Vnfishbase and VNeID systems. From the beginning of 2023 to now, there has been no case of illegal mining border crossings in foreign waters.
