As part of its intensified campaign against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Lam Dong province has successfully resolved all cases involving fishing vessels losing connection to the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), demonstrating a firm and thorough approach to enforcing anti-IUU regulations.
According to the Lam Dong provincial Steering Committee on combating IUU fishing, as of October 27, all 787 cases of VMS disconnection during offshore operations had been fully addressed. Of these, 659 vessels (83.7%) were subject to administrative fines, while the remainder were deemed disconnected due to objective causes such as satellite signal loss, transmission errors, or equipment malfunctions, and were closed without penalties. During the peak week from October 21 to 27, no new VMS disconnection cases were recorded, indicating the effectiveness of the province’s inspection, monitoring, and outreach efforts to fishermen.
Nguyen Van Chien, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, said the early completion of verification and resolution, three days ahead of schedule, was a notable achievement, reflecting close coordination across the political system, particularly in areas with large fishing fleets.
The provincial agriculture sector directed the Fisheries and Islands Sub-Department to work with the Border Guard and local coastal authorities to inspect and resolve each VMS disconnection case. Fishermen were also guided on technical fixes to ensure continuous VMS operation.
Currently, Lam Dong has 1,984 fishing vessels of 15 metres or longer. Of these, 1,972 vessels have installed VMS devices and are fully integrated into the national VMS system, achieving 100% coverage of active vessels. The remaining 12 vessels are inactive as they suffer damage, are pending decommissioning, or are under ongoing legal processes.
Looking ahead, the province aims to eliminate VMS disconnection incidents at sea by ensuring seamless system operation and strictly controlling the installation, removal, and replacement of VMS devices in accordance with regulations.
The provincial Vessel Monitoring Centre maintains 24/7 operations, linked with Border Guard data stations and the Fisheries Control Office, to promptly detect and address vessels that fail to report positions for six hours, lose connection for over 10 days, or exceed authorised fishing boundaries.
The Sub-Department has also established a vessel monitoring team to provide round-the-clock supervision, ensuring timely detection and handling of disconnections and boundary violations. Lam Dong is committed to strictly penalising deliberate device shutdowns, unauthorised removals, or foreign water incursions, contributing to Vietnam’s national efforts to have the IUU “yellow card” lifted./.
