Vietnam has been taking various measures across its provinces in order to fight IUU fishing so that it can have the yellow card that it still holds from the EU removed.

Fish catches are gradually recovering after the COVID-19 outbreak in central provinces, according to local fishermen.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first quarter of 2020, Go Cong Dong district (Tien Giang province) achieved an output from aquaculture and fishing 19,450 MT of aquatic products of all kinds. In particular, 4,950 MT is harvested from aquaculture, the remaining is fished from marine fishing with 14,500 MT.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Since the beginning of the year until now, the price of fuel and the fishing ground has stabilized while the fishery resources have been abundant, so most of the offshore fishing vessels have operated effectively.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Aquaculture Cooperative of Ninh Phu Commune (Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa), with 10 members, is implementing biosecurity shrimp farming using biofloc, semi biofloc technology on an area of about 10 hectares. It is known that these models have been successfully implemented by Mr. Le Minh Chinh (Ninh Phu commune) - Director of Ninh Phu Aquaculture Cooperative in the past 7 years.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Lately, Quang Nam fishermen's fishing activities have been effective, bringing a stable income for fishermen.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường has urged 28 coastal provinces to promote further actions against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The European Council has approved a decision to conclude the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the final procedure from the E.U. side needed for the deal to become effective.

As shrimp exporters and farmers in Ca Mau are feeling COVID-19 headwinds, the southernmost province is seeking ways to mitigate impact of the pandemic that is ravaging around the world.

With Vietnam’s main agro-forestry-fishery export markets after China such as the US and Europe being hit by the new coronavirus-caused acute respiratory disease (COVID-19), Vietnamese exporters are suffering.

Tuna-fishing boats in the central province of Khanh Hoa are busy with the ongoing season, as a vessel can earn nearly 100 million VND (4,300 USD) per trip, Dan Viet online newspaper reports.

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang plans to increase the area under industrial and semi-industrial shrimp farming models to 3,200ha and annual output to 28,000 tonnes this year, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) confirmed it has decided to postpone an on-site audit in Vietnam.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program continued to grow in 2019, with 2,681 BAP-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills worldwide by the end of the year. That’s up almost 15 percent from the program’s 2018 count, according to the GAA’s annual report.

Relations between the EU and some ASEAN member states have been tense in recent years because of the seafood trade, stemming from the European Commission’s (EC) sanctions related to the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. As Chair of ASEAN 2020, Vietnam hopes to promote cooperation among ASEAN member states and address this issue to actively contribute towards better ASEAN-EU trade relations.