Vietnam Government Inspectorate probes fishing vessel violations in Ca Mau

The Government Inspectorate of Vietnam has requested the Ministry of Public Security to investigate 5,107 cases involving fishing vessels that lost connection with their vessel monitoring systems (VMS). These incidents carry a risk of missing administrative violations, potentially resulting in an estimated loss of 127.67 billion VND in unpaid fines to the state budget.

The investigation follows an inspection of the Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee regarding its efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. While Ca Mau was a pioneer in using IT for vessel management, the inspection revealed that out of 7,860 administrative violation cases, only 841 (10.7%) were penalized, totaling over 37.4 billion VND. Conversely, 7,019 cases (89.3%) were closed without administrative action.

Of the penalized cases, 26 were found to have errors, including incomplete processing and failures to collect late fines. The inspectorate's findings highlight significant gaps in enforcing regulations related to VMS connectivity and reporting requirements.