The government of Vietnam seeks to empower the country's fishermen through the landmark passage of an amended fisheries la

Hien, Than Thi

Aquatic Commons

JANUARY 2018
59
Vietnam is home to one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, 
providing habitats that include 
mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds 
and coastal lagoons for a wide variety 
of species. Because of this diversity 
(particularly in commercially valuable 
species) and its extensive coastline 
(over 3,000 km), an important sector 
of Vietnam’s economy is fishing. 
However, its coastal fisheries 
are suffering under intense 
overexploitation. It is reported that 
the catch in areas of 50 m depth or 
less is two to three times higher 
than the maximum sustainable 
yield (MSY). This simply cannot be 
sustained. The country’s fisheries sector 
is governed by a suite of legislation 
at both State and provincial levels. 
The strategic fisheries master plan, 
revised and adopted in 2013, has the 
overall aim to focus on value-added 
growth and sustainable development 
of the fisheries sector. As part of the 
re-structuring and reform strategies, 
the government also adopted the 
National Plan of Action (NPOA) in 
2014 to reduce the fishing efforts as 
well as protect the fisheries resources. 
Part of that exercise involved 
revising the existing national policies 
and legal frameworks to ensure 
that sustainability played a more 
significant role. 
The Centre for Marinelife 
Conservation and Community 
Development (MCD) is a local NGO 
working to address challenges facing 
Vietnam’s fisheries sector. MCD is 
supporting a pilot programme of 
Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries 
Management (EAFM) in Binh Dinh 
Province in Central Vietnam, which 
advocated this approach to the 
government and has worked with the 
Directorate of Fisheries to incorporate 
the appropriate components into 
the revision of  Fisheries Law 2003. 
Integral to this approach is co-
management, whereby the local 
fisher communities that rely on the 
fisheries for their livelihoods, work 
collaboratively with the government 
to manage the resource. Empowering 
these communities has proven to be 
successful in fisheries management in 
other jurisdictions in other countries, 
such as in parts of the Philippines. 
On 21 November 2017, the National 
Assembly adopted the long-awaited 
amendment to the Fisheries Law, and 
the concept of co-management was 
sanctified as a legal document for the 
first time. Local community groups 
now have the legal recognition 
needed to effectively carry out marine 
resources protection at a local level, 
including the delegation of fishing 
rights. The law also integrates climate 
change, and the fight against illegal, 
unreported and unregulated (IUU) 
fishing, apart from strengthening 
management of marine protected 
areas (MPAs). 
Fisheries governance
The government has clearly 
recognized that giving local 
communes more power to manage 
their own resources is the most 
effective way of managing them 
sustainably. Collaboration between 
national/local authorities and 
fisheries LegisLation
Vietnam
Re-visiting the Law
the government of Vietnam seeks to empower the country's  
fishermen through the landmark passage of an amended fisheries law
This article is by Than Thi Hien  
(tthien@mcdvietnam.org), Vice Director, 
Centre for Marinelife Conservation and 
Community Development (MCD), Hanoi, 
Vietnam
the co-management decree is being drafted to cover the 
most significant issues of recognized community groups 
and fishing rights...
60
SAMUDRA RepoRt No. 78
communities is essential. Over the 
coming year (until implementation 
on 1 January 2019), the next steps 
include: (i) communication 
and education so communities 
understand the amended law’s 
benefit; (ii) development of 
under-law documents (decree, 
circulars, guidelines); (iii) policies 
to support fisheries management at 
both national and local levels, 
including factoring in financial 
resources, human resources 
and technical resources; and 
(iv) enforcement, implementation 
and monitoring of laws and 
regulations. MCD is continuing 
to work with the Directorate 
of Fisheries, and has co-hosted 
workshops to inform stakeholders of 
the implications currently impacting 
both the co-management decree 
and the regulations on MPAs. The 
co-management decree is being 
drafted to cover the most significant 
thAN thi hieN
Small-scale fisheries in the small island of Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh province, Vietnam, 
where fisher communities work collaboratively with the government to manage the resource
http://mcdvietnam.org/vietnam-
government-empowers-fisherman-
in-landmark-passage-of-amended-
fisheries-law/ 
Vietnam Government Empowers 
Fisherman in Landmark Passage 
of Amended Fisheries law
https://www.icsf.net/en/samudra/article/
eN/63-3800-Small-scale-hop.html 
Small-scale Hopes
http://mcdvietnam.org/en/ 
Centre for Marinelife 
Conservation and Community 
Development (MCD) 
For more
issues of recognized community 
groups and fishing rights in the 
protection and management 
of aquatic resources. The MPA 
regulations are being revised to 
include: (i) the management structure 
of an MPA; (ii) the co-ordination 
mechanism; and (iii) sustainable 
financing, including tourism fees in 
MPAs. Besides, there will be a focus 
as well on how to ensure biodiversity 
protection in the defined core and 
buffer zones of the MPAs.
Once the law is implemented, 
co-management groups will be 
required to create their own fishery 
management plans in accordance 
with the details set out in the 
decrees and guidelines, with help 
from provincial and commune-
level authorities. The Directorate of 
Fisheries will develop an action 
plan to support the co-management 
and community groups over the 
coming year, and help mobilize 
the available financial, human and 
technical resources.                                  
V i e t N A M


Vietnam: fisheries legislation, re-visiting the law

http://aquaticcommons.org/23207/1/016%20Sam78_Re-visiting%20the%20Law%20by%20Than%20Thi%20Hien.pdf

Vietnam: fisheries legislation, re-visiting the law

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Aquatic Commons