Following its fifth on-site inspection in March 2026, the EC issued 38 recommendations for Viet Nam to address. These recommendations are broadly consistent with Viet Nam’s policies and development orientations for the fisheries sector. Most have therefore been carefully reviewed and implemented in a serious, thorough and constructive manner. Significant progress has been made in addressing them.
Viet Nam’s fisheries legislation now broadly meets the requirements for combating IUU fishing and is in line with international law, with tougher penalties introduced for violations of regulations on vessel monitoring systems (VMS). More than 80,100 registered fishing vessels have been entered into the national fisheries database (VNFishbase) for monitoring and management.
All fishing vessels measuring 15 metres or more in length are equipped with VMS as required. A total of 141 fishing ports and landing sites, along with 265 accounts for border guard posts and stations, have been registered on the electronic catch documentation and traceability system (eCDT) to monitor vessels entering and leaving ports, ensuring transparency and accuracy.
Since March 2026, Viet Nam’s fisheries sector has shifted from campaign-based efforts to combat IUU fishing towards establishing a fisheries management system based on digital data, risk management and verifiable law enforcement.
Despite some notable results, practical enforcement remains the key factor determining whether the “yellow card” warning can be lifted, as demonstrated by Viet Nam’s efforts to combat IUU fishing and its direct working sessions with EC inspection delegations. The relevant forces must step up patrols and surveillance at sea and ensure that no fishing vessels violate foreign waters. Preventing such violations has been identified as a decisive criterion for lifting the warning.
Ministries, sectors and local authorities must strictly implement the Government’s and Prime Minister’s directives, focusing on the effective fulfilment of key tasks. These include resolutely preventing unqualified fishing vessels from operating, and ensuring that all alerts involving VMS disconnections, boundary violations, broken seals or the sending and receiving of VMS devices are recorded, verified and dealt with within a maximum of 60 days, with supporting documentation maintained for verification in accordance with regulations.
Ministries, sectors and local authorities must also allocate maximum resources to investing in fishing port infrastructure and storm shelters for fishing vessels, and approve and implement sustainable livelihood conversion policies for fishermen.
