During a working session with Thuan An Fish Port Management Board in the central city of Hue, Jensen expressed his appreciation for the country’s fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, pledging to relay these positive insights to the European Commission (E.C.).

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Chairman of the Danish Parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee Michael Aastrup Jensen (third from the right) learning IUU fishing prevention at Thuan An fishing port

The Danish delegation witnessed firsthand how Hue’s fishing boats are tracked live through an advanced Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), run by the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

They also raised questions about the handling of local fishing vessels caught illegally fishing in foreign waters, the status of foreign vessels violating Vietnam's maritime boundaries, and the ongoing decline in offshore catch volumes.

The municipal fish port management board reported that 437 offshore fishing vessels in Hue have been equipped with the VMS. The city is now working to integrate vessel management data from the national fisheries database (VNFishbase) and the VMS data into the Hue-S smart urban service platform. It is also intensifying monthly tracking of each fishing trip to maintain precise records of vessel movements both into and out of the city's ports.

Using real-time monitoring via shore stations, authorities will detect when fishing vessels risk crossing into prohibited zones in the Gulf of Tonkin. Timely warnings are issued to ensure vessels return to Vietnamese waters, preventing their unintentional violations.

Relevant agencies are also taking pro-active measures to maintain VMS device connectivity and issuing alerts for vessels at high risk of engaging in IUU fishing, thereby ensuring coordinated action across departments.

Source: VNA