Legal basis

- Law No. 18/2017/QH14 dated November 21, 2017, hereinafter referred to as the 2017 Fisheries Law.

- Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP dated March 8, 2019 detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Fisheries Law.

What is a fisheries exploitation license?

Fishery exploitation is the fishing activity or logistics activity of catching aquatic resources.

Fishery exploitation license is a document issued by a competent state agency to organizations and individuals engaged in aquatic exploitation activities that meet the conditions prescribed by law.

In case a Fishery Exploitation License is required

Clause 1, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates as follows:

1. Organizations and individuals exploiting fisheries by fishing vessels with a maximum length of 06 meters or more must have a Fishery Exploitation License.

Thus, according to the above regulations, organizations and individuals exploiting fisheries by fishing vessels with a maximum length of 06 meters or more must have a Fishery Exploitation License.

Conditions for issuance of Fisheries Exploitation License

Clause 2, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates that organizations and individuals exploiting aquatic resources by fishing vessels with a maximum length of 6 meters or more are granted a Fisheries Exploitation License when meeting the following conditions:

a) Within the fishing license quota, for fishing at sea;

b) Have a fishing profession that is not on the List of prohibited fishing occupations;

c) Have a Certificate of technical safety for fishing vessels, for fishing vessels that must be registered;

d) Fishing vessels have communication equipment according to regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

d) Have voyage monitoring equipment for fishing vessels with a maximum length of 15 meters or more according to Government regulations;

e) Have a fishing vessel registration certificate;

g) The captain and chief engineer must have diplomas and certificates according to regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

h) In case of re-issuance due to expired license, the conditions specified in points b, c, d, dd, e and g above must be met, the exploitation log has been submitted according to regulations and the fishing vessel is not on the list of fishing vessels. List of illegal fishing vessels published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Contents of Fishery Exploitation License

Clause 3, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates the main content of the Fishery Exploitation License as follows:

a) Name of licensed organization or individual;

b) Fishing vessel registration number; Ship name, call sign, code of the International Maritime Organization (if any);

c) Occupation, sea area or area permitted for exploitation;

d) Operational time of each occupation;

d) Allowable output by species (if any);

e) Registered fishing port;

g) Term of license.

Reissue of Fisheries Exploitation License

Clause 4, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates that a fisheries exploitation license is reissued in one of the following cases:

a) Lost or damaged;

b) Change information of organizations and individuals in the license; registered fishing port;

c) License expires.

Revocation of Fisheries Exploitation License

Clause 5, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates that a fisheries exploitation license is revoked in one of the following cases:

a) The content of the license has been erased, erased or edited;

b) Illegal fishing outside Vietnam's waters;

c) The fishing vessel has been deregistered;

d) No longer meets the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

Term of fishing license

Clause 6, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates that the term of a fishing license is prescribed as follows:

- The term of a license issued for the first time or re-issued in the case where the license expires does not exceed the remaining term of the quota from the date of issue;

- The duration of the reissued license is in case of loss or damage; change information of organizations and individuals in the license; The registered fishing port is equal to the remaining term of the issued license.

Adjusting fisheries exploitation licenses

Clause 7, Article 50 of the 2017 Fisheries Law stipulates

- The content of the Fishery Exploitation License is adjusted when there are changes in aquatic resources according to regulations. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Provincial People's Committee announce the adjustment of the content of the Fishery Exploitation License to ship owners.