HCMC – HCMC is stepping up strict measures to monitor fishing vessels and support the nation’s effort to get the EU’s yellow card lifted regarding illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, while promoting sustainable growth of the marine economy.
The city aims to work alongside the country to have the warning removed by the end of this year.
As of mid-August 2025, HCMC had over 5,000 fishing vessels, of which 1,208 failed to meet fishing requirements and have been barred from setting sail, according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Environment.
Local authorities have updated data for more than 4,800 fishing vessels on the national fisheries database (VNFishbase) and the vessel monitoring system (VMS), linking it with the VNeID population database for information management.
Port inspections have also been tightened, with over 7,400 vessel arrivals and nearly 8,300 departures checked since the start of the year, while more than 56,000 tons of seafood have been monitored through ports.
Since early July, authorities have carried out eight patrols at sea, inspecting 364 fishing vessels and detecting 53 violations.
A total of 114 administrative offenses in the fisheries sector have been handled, with fines exceeding VND2 billion. Serious cases included the removal of vessel monitoring devices and illegal fishing in foreign waters.
In the city, some fishing vessels are still suspected of switching off their VMS devices when reaching central coastal waters while violations of boundary limits in the Gulf of Tonkin are also on the rise.
To address this, the city has proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment direct fisheries surveillance forces and the coast guard to step up patrols in waters bordering China, while coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to monitor and handle cases of vessel violations.
