The Draft Decree providing detailed regulations and measures for implementing the Fisheries Law, which is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for submission to the Government for promulgation, aims to remove existing difficulties and obstacles, thereby creating a smooth, favorable, and enabling legal corridor for production, business activities, and the sustainable management of fishery resources.
I. Legal basis for developing the Decree
The Draft Decree has been developed on the solid foundation of implementing Notification No. 08-TB/BCĐTW dated August 8, 2025 of the Central Steering Committee on perfecting institutions and legal system; Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 dated February 19, 2025 of the 15th National Assembly on rearranging the organizational apparatus of the state; Decision No. 1671/QĐ-TTg dated August 5, 2025 of the Prime Minister approving the plan for cutting and simplifying administrative procedures; together with Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW, Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW, and Conclusions No. 121-KL/TW, 126-KL/TW and 183-KL/TW of the Central Committee, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee Secretariat. This process is closely linked with the implementation of Government Decree No. 131/2025/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 136/2025/NĐ-CP on decentralization, delegation of power and clear delineation of authority in the fields of agriculture and environment.
II. Key contents of the draft Decree
The Draft Decree consists of 9 chapters and 65 articles, providing detailed regulations on a wide range of areas from protection and development of fishery resources, aquaculture, fishing activities, fishing vessel management, fisheries surveillance and control, processing, import and export of aquatic products. Among the noteworthy new provisions are the additional regulations concerning conditions for granting and revoking fishing licenses; cases for deregistration of fishing vessels; conditions for export of fishing vessels; and the expansion of the scope of application to acts constituting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. These adjustments are designed to enhance feasibility and practicability while ensuring full compliance with international commitments to which Vietnam is a member, thereby contributing significantly to the effort to have the European Commission’s yellow card warning lifted.
Removing bottlenecks and creating favorable conditions for production and export
The Draft Decree amends a number of impractical and outdated provisions that have caused difficulties in reality, such as abolishing the requirement that “raw aquatic materials originating from imported exploitation must not be mixed with raw aquatic materials originating from domestic exploitation in the same export shipment”; revising regulations on the minimum exploitable size of certain aquatic species living in natural waters to make them more appropriate and suitable to actual production conditions, thereby helping to minimize losses for fishermen and enterprises while still fully satisfying conservation requirements for fishery resources.
Strongly promoting administrative procedure reform and management decentralization
One of the most prominent highlights of the draft is the clear orientation toward substantive cutting and simplification of administrative procedures. Processing times and dossier components for procedures such as granting documents approving the exploitation of endangered, precious and rare aquatic species; issuing certificates of eligibility for production and nursing facilities of aquatic breeds/feed/production of environmental treatment products for aquaculture; testing of aquatic breeds/feed/environmental treatment products; registration of cage and raft aquaculture and key aquatic species; granting, re-issuing, extending and revoking fishing licenses… have all been considerably shortened and streamlined. At the same time, the Decree strongly decentralizes authority to local levels, especially to the commune level in issuing confirmations for cage and raft aquaculture facilities and key aquatic species, thereby enhancing local proactiveness, reducing the workload on higher-level agencies, and serving people and enterprises more effectively and efficiently. The system of forms and procedures has been standardized to ensure uniformity, transparency and ease of implementation throughout the entire country.
Supplementing regulations suitable to the two-tier local government organizational model
In response to the requirements of streamlining the organizational apparatus in accordance with Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15, the Draft Decree clearly defines the authority and responsibilities of People’s Committees at commune and provincial levels in fisheries management, ensuring clear delineation of functions, avoiding overlap and duplication, and thereby improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management.
Perfecting regulations arising from practical management experience
The draft also adjusts and supplements many practical contents, such as the management and protection regime for endangered, precious and rare aquatic species, whereby endangered, precious and rare aquatic species that are confiscated administrative violation exhibits or criminal case evidence shall be received, preserved and handled in accordance with regulations on establishing state ownership of the entire people; technical requirements for vessel monitoring system (VMS) equipment on fishing vessels to operate continuously 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, while clearly defining the responsibilities of vessel owners, captains and equipment suppliers. In addition, the Draft Decree adjusts the scope of operation of logistics vessels and fisheries surveillance vessels, supplements policies for the fisheries surveillance force and crew members of public-service vessels, thereby contributing to strengthening law enforcement capacity at sea.
With numerous innovative contents, the Draft Decree providing detailed regulations and implementation measures for the Fisheries Law not only promptly institutionalizes the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State but also creates a synchronized, transparent and favorable legal corridor for production, business and protection of fishery resources. The Decree is expected to significantly contribute to enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of state management, promoting the sustainable, integrated and responsible development of Vietnam’s fisheries sector in the coming period.
Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has posted the Draft Decree on its website: https://mae.gov.vn/. The Ministry sincerely looks forward to receiving attention and contributions of opinions from agencies, organizations, enterprises and individuals to further perfect the Decree. All comments and feedback are welcome to be sent to the email address: ntquynh9@mae.gov.vn
Nguyen Quynh – Department of Fisheries and Surveillance
(Hai Dang translated)