Local authorities and relevant forces in the central city of Da Nang are stepping up efforts to tighten the management of fishing vessels as part of the locality’s push to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and have the European Commission’s yellow card against Vietnamese seafood exports removed.
Accordingly, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Tran Nam Hung has signed an official dispatch, requiring stricter supervision of fishing vessels that fail to meet operational conditions and stronger action against all IUU-related violations.
Under the official dispatch, commune and ward-level authorities must closely monitor every non-compliant fishing vessel within their jurisdiction. Vessel owners are prohibited from taking their boats to sea without complete legal documents and are required to remove all fishing gear and equipment from vessels that are not eligible to operate.
Local authorities must publicly post the list of non-compliant vessels for community monitoring, conduct frequent on-site inspections, and maintain updated information on each vessel such as mooring location, operational status, ownership, and dimensions.
They are also required to submit weekly monitoring reports to the Department of Agriculture and Environment before 11:00 every Friday.
The city’s Border Guard Command is ordered to direct maritime control stations and border posts to apply stronger control measures, work closely with local authorities, and strictly handle cases where vessel owners deliberately operate without the required documents.
Patrols at sea will be enhanced, particularly in offshore areas beyond port boundaries. Additional personnel will be deployed to ensure strict inspection of vessels entering and leaving ports, aiming to enforce penalties for IUU violations effectively.
Da Nang has also urged vessel owners whose fishing licences or technical safety certificates are nearing expiration to urgently contact the sub-department of sea, islands and fisheries to renew their documents, preventing their boats from being classified as non-compliant./.
