Proceedings of the International Cyanide Detection Testing Workshop

Destructive Fishing Practices in Vietnam:
Current Status with a Focus on Cyanide Fishing
Ho Thi Yen Thu, Vice-Director
Simone M. Retif, Advisor
Minh Hoang, Acting Head, Coastal Resources Management Department
Tran Thi Hoa, Vice-Head, Community Development Department
Introduction
Vietnam has a coastline of over 3260 km
with an Exclusive Economic Zone of over 1
million square kilometers. The fi sheries sector
plays a vital role in the economic and social
development of Vietnam. Of a population
of 84 million the livelihood of 8 million
people depends on fi sheries resources as the
household primary income source and an
additional 12 million get part of their income
or subsistence from fi sheries (MOFI and
WB, 2005). Although over the past decade,
the fi sheries sector has achieved considerable
growth this has not been without concerns
of sustainable development. Such problems
include overfi shing in the coastal area,
degradation of the marine environment
and coastal resources, including the use of
destructive fi shing methods, and the lack of
effective resource management. The use of
destructive fi shing methods yields short-term
economic benefi ts for fi shers but endangers
the long-term sustainability of fi shing and
other reef-dependent industries such as
ecotourism.
A report released in 2002 documented that
destructive fi shing practices, including the use
of poison and dynamite, threaten as much as
85 percent of Vietnam’s reefs (WRI, 2002).
The leading threats to Vietnam’s reefs in 2004
continued to be over-fi shing and destructive
fi shing. Based on 2003-2004 data, most reefs
surveyed in Vietnam have less than 25% live
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coral cover (Tun et al., 2004).
Vietnam ranks among the top fi ve countries
most impacted by climate change (Dasgupta
et al., 2007). Eliminating destructive fi shing
in Vietnam, including cyanide fishing, will
assist to enhance resistance and resilience to
climate change of Vietnam’s coastal resources
by alleviating the overall pressures on the
system, giving it more fl exibility to mobilize
its natural defenses.
This report details the current status of
management and use of destructive fi shing
practises in Vietnam with a particular focus
on cyanide fi shing. To alleviate ecological
impacts of destructive fishing practises
particularly cyanide use, a series of urgent
measures is suggested covering the legislative
framework, improving law enforcement and
awareness raising.
Overview of destructive fishing
practises
In Vietnam four common methods of
destructive fi shing, which have been illegal in
Vietnam since 1989, are:
1. Destructive fi shing gear (e.g. illegal
mesh size)
2. Explosive fi shing (also referred to as
blast or dynamite fi shing)
3. Electro fi shing
4. Poison fi shing (mainly cyanide)