Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Prohibiting fishery in the core area of Ha Long Bay, however, could lead to a loss of jobs for thousands of fishermen.

According to the agriculture department, about 3,500 fishermen work in the locality and 1,286 fishing boats use destructive fishing instruments. This accounts for 10.5 percent of total workers and 18 percent of fishing boats in the province.

The fishermen will be forced to shift to other fishing methods that fit the state’s requirements or shift to other business.

Bui Van Kiem, a fisherman in Ha Long commune of Van Don district, said he has been fishing since childhood. As he could not go to school and had no qualifications, he does not know what he will do.

Quang Ninh provincial authorities in 2012 launched a campaign to help relocate fishing villagers from the sea to the mainland.

More than 300 apartments were built in Ha Phong Ward of Ha Long City to serve the re-settlement program which accommodated thousands of people. Fishermen attended training courses to start new jobs, and job trade fairs were opened.

However, the fishermen could not get big benefits from the campaign. Many of them worked for hotels and restaurants, but they later gave up the jobs.

Nguyen Thi Men, a resident of the Ha Phong resettlement area, said the job brought low income, just VND3 million a month. She had to travel very far to get to the office, which cost her nearly VND1 million.

Meanwhile, the majority of older people didn’t want to change jobs, saying that it was too late to go back to school and start a new business.

“Learning is is no use for me. I still cannot write my name,” said Le Thi Loan who lives in the same resettlement area.

Nguyen Huu Giang, director of the Quang Ninh agriculture department, said in order to support the job switch, the province is accelerating development of concentrated production areas for sustainable agriculture production.

Van Chai Cooperative has helped hundreds of fishermen earn money from fish farming in cages and rowing boats for travelers at the Vong Vieng fishing village. Local authorities are allocating water surfaces to fishermen to allow them to switch from coastal fishing to aquaculture.

In Cam Pha, a project on producing shrimp breeders, commercial shrimp and shrimp feed using high technologies is being implemented with investment capital of VND1.3 trillion.

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