Following the direction of the National Steering Committee on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, Hai Phong City, along with 22 coastal provinces and cities, is focusing high intensity on implementing a peak period to lift the European Commission’s (EC) “Yellow Card” warning.
Determination for “Real Talk - Real Action - Real Results” At the 30th session of the National Steering Committee in late January 2026, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized that anti-IUU fishing efforts must ensure substance and absolutely avoid coping or formalistic measures. The core goal is to prepare the best conditions for working with the EC inspection team, aiming to remove the “Yellow Card” and prevent the risk of being upgraded to a “Red Card”.
February 2026 has been identified as the peak month for inspection and examination nationwide. Functional forces will focus on definitively handling key violations such as fishing vessels violating foreign waters, disconnecting Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), and falsifying seafood origin records.
Decisive and Synchronized Action in Hai Phong Following the Government’s conclusions, the Chairman of the Hai Phong City People's Committee has directed departments, sectors, and localities—including the special areas of Cat Hai, Bach Long Vi, and wards and communes with fishing vessels—to act decisively with accurate reporting data that is synchronized between records and the field.
Key tasks in Hai Phong include:
- Strict Fleet Management: The Department of Agriculture and Environment presides over reviewing and publicizing the list of “3-No” fishing vessels (no registration, no technical inspection, no license) and vessels ineligible for operation on the national VnFishbase database.
- Control of Port Entry and Exit: The City Border Guard Command is responsible for strict control, absolutely not allowing ineligible fishing vessels to depart for sea.
- Transparent Traceability: Strengthening inspections across the entire chain from fishers and fishing ports to processing enterprises to ensure seafood origin records are honest and verifiable.
- Strict Handling of Violations: The City Inspectorate and relevant units are urgently reviewing and definitively handling administrative violation cases, preventing the improper “closing of files”.
Welfare Policies for Fishermen Alongside control efforts, Hai Phong is also urgently finalizing dossiers to submit to the City People's Council for the issuance of a Resolution on policies to support the costs of destroying and dismantling fishing vessels and supporting vocational transitions for fishermen until 2030. This is an effort to stabilize sustainable livelihoods for people affected by the restructuring of the fisheries industry.
With synchronized coordination between agencies and the strong application of technology in fisheries management (such as the eCDT and VMS-Alert systems), Hai Phong and coastal localities are striving to affirm their smart and responsible fishery management capabilities before the important EC inspection.