In a recent interview with the Vietnamese Information Agency (VNA), academic Veeramalla Anjaiah discussed the country’s efforts to address the European Commission’s (EC) concerns over illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Vietnam, one of the world’s largest shrimp producers, is working to implement measures to remove the yellow card warning issued by the EC.

Indonesian Partnership Bolsters Aquaculture Efforts

Anjaiah, a senior researcher at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), highlighted the strong cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia in the field of aquaculture. The two nations recently concluded an agreement to develop lobster farming, with Indonesia providing Vietnam with shrimp, lobster, and other fish products. This partnership could lead to increased economic benefits for both countries.

According to Anjaiah, Vietnam’s government, ministries, and localities have implemented various solutions to combat IUU fishing. The EC’s recommendations on combating IUU fishing are already included in Vietnam’s Fisheries Law. However, enforcement faces challenges due to limited human resources in the fishing sector and poor coordination among localities in reporting fishing vessel violations to authorities.