In Vietnam, seafood exploitation is the livelihood of millions of fishermen. In 2022, fisheries output alone reached 3.8 million tons. However, aquatic resources are decreasing in both quantity and quality which is attributed to impact from people.

Therefore, Vietnam needs to restructure the fisheries industry, shifting from unsustainable exploitation to sustainable seafood economy development, balancing  exploitation, culture and reserve based on the industry’s ecosystem with state management agencies, businesses and the community of fishermen. This will help fishermen find livelihoods suitable to real conditions.

With sea surface area of over 1 million square kilometers, mariculture is believed to have great potential. 

There are many mariculture models that can bring high economic efficiency, such as oyster farming in Van Don, Quang Ninh, and seaweed and lobster farming in Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa. Most recently, the semi-natural cuttlefish farming model in the open sea has succeeded, creating a stable sustainable livelihood for Ninh Thuan’s fishermen.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan emphasized the importance of mariculture in solving the IUU problem, saying that the development of maritime culture would help reduce exploitation and conflicts during the process of protecting aquatic resources and building sustainable fisheries. 

Hoan mentioned sustainable development with three major pillars – economy, environment and society, of which ‘society’ means fishermen.  It is necessary to to heighten the awareness of fighting against IUU, which is an extremely important for the sake of the nation and people.

It is necessary to put farmers at the center, and understand what fishermen think and what they want. It is also necessary to be consistent in propaganda to step by step change fishermen’s awareness of protecting aquatic resources and sustainable exploitation. Training, providing skills and supporting fishermen change jobs is also a must-do thing.

Le Ben, deputy chair of the Vietnam Marine Farming Association, agreed that intensifying mariculture is a must as this helps ease pressure on natural aquatic resource exploitation. However, he pointed out problems in the regulations on allocating water surface to fishermen.

With increasingly high requirements set by import markets, including the requirement on declarations on carbon emissions, Vietnamese enterprises have to become more responsible about environmental protection.

The Vietnam Department of Sea and Islands has proposed four coastal areas for mariculture, including the Red River Delta; the northern-central region and coastal areas; the southeast region, and the southwest region.

Tam An