Focusing on green fishery development
According to a report at the seminar themed “Biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Central and Central Highlands Regions", the central region of Vietnam has 14 coastal provinces and cities, accounting for over 55% of the country's coastline. This region is home to many important coastal economic zones, beautiful beaches, seas, islands, and diverse ecosystems, all of which create favourable conditions for the development of the marine economy, tourism, and transportation. The central coast also provides a crucial livelihood for approximately 20 million people, significantly contributing to poverty alleviation, improving the livelihoods of fishing communities, ensuring food security, and protecting the nation's maritime sovereignty.
However, the marine ecosystem in the central region is under threat from human activities such as illegal fishing practices, environmental pollution in aquaculture, rapid urbanisation, and overexploitation of coastal areas. The conservation of marine biodiversity in this region faces many limitations and has been encountering numerous difficulties and challenges.
Bui Thi Thu Hien, Manager for the Marine and Coastal Areas Programme at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Vietnam, noted that the world has lost 14% of its coral reef area since 2009, and with increasing pressures from climate change, coral reefs are facing greater declines. Vietnam is one of the 168 parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). At the 15th conference of the CBDparties, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted, which includes the 30x30 target by 2030. Specifically, 30% of land and sea areas are to be conserved through the establishment of protected areas and other effective conservation measures outside protected areas. To reverse this downward trajectory, resources and actions must be accelerated at both the local and global levels.
Amid these opportunities and challenges, the seminar focused on solutions to issues such as emphasising spatial planning for marine development based on an ecosystem approach. There was also a greater emphasis on the goal of protecting territorial waters and developing marine economic strategies, recognising agriculture and fisheries as key economic sectors. The seminar stressed the importance of adhering to the principles governing marine protected areas to develop the marine economy. Notably, it highlighted that development of green fisheries is an inevitable trend, ensuring the modernisation of the economy and sustainable environmental development while enhancing resilience to climate change.
Sharing responsibility
According to experts, the development of a green and sustainable fisheries industry must be a community-basedmovement. Additionally, the sharing of management responsibilities based on the harmonisation of benefits among stakeholders, is essential for the responsible and wise management and exploitation of fishery resources. This approach is known as co-management in the protection and exploitation of fishery resources.
Le Tran Nguyen Hung, Head of the Fisheries Resources Protection and Development Division under the Directorate of Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), stated that co-management in exploitation, aquaculture, and the protection of fishery resources in Tam Giang Lagoon (Thua Thien Hue Province) is one of the first and most successful systematic co-management models in Vietnam. In this model, instead of forming groups, teams, and clubs of fishermen, fishery sub-associations were established under the Provincial Fisheries Association, extending across communes along the 22,000-hectare lagoon. Initial results from these co-management models include increased awareness among fishing communities of sustainable fisheries, enhanced consciousness of protecting fishery resources, improved management of resources, strengthened community self-governance, reduced destructive fishing practices, and the gradual recovery of fishery resources. The key lesson is that the management of fishery resources and ecosystems sustainably cannot rely solely on state management but must be community based. The most critical aspect is the equitable and transparent distribution of responsibilities and benefits among all parties. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified 2024 as the year to intensify co-management in the protection of fishery resources in Vietnam, leading to the active implementation of this approach in coastal provinces.
In implementing the 2017 Fisheries Law, the co-management model has been deployed in seven provinces: Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, and Tuyen Quang. Nineteen community-based organisations have been recognised and granted the right to participate in the co-management for the protection of fishery resources. In particular, Thua Thien Hue Province has established 22 fisheries sub-associations that implement the co-management across 22 fishery resource protection zones in the lagoon and coastal areas.
