Proceedings of the International Cyanide Detection Testing Workshop

aquarium trade. The Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Philippines
have established a Cyanide Detection Test
(CDT) to analyze cyanide content in fi sh and
in water. The laboratory issues certifi cations
on analysis result to support regulatory
and enforcement laws as well as export
requirements (http://www.bfar.da.gov.
ph/infocorner/cyanide_detectiontest.htm
(accessed 6/03/07); Rubec et al., 2003).
There have been a number of calls for the
development of a CDT in Vietnam both for
the Live Reef Food Fish fi shery and the marine
aquarium fi shery to assist in monitoring the
use of cyanide and enforce national laws and
regulations (Nguyen Duc Cu, 2001). To date
such a system has not been developed.
The USA Lacey Act prohibits the import of
any wildlife that has been traded in violation
of foreign law. This Act was adopted to assist
in controlling the destructive wildlife trade
in settings where the environmental laws
of originating states could not be enforced
in those nations. Thus it is illegal to import
into the USA marine aquarium species taken
in Vietnam with cyanide. The USA Coral
Reef Task Force are investigating cyanide
detection tests that can both be used for local
management and enforcement authorities in
source countries and also a test that could
reliably be used several weeks after exposure
in order to allow the USA to apply the Lacey
Act to suspected illegal imports (CRTF,
2006).
Compliance and enforcement
Despite the existence of clear legislation
regarding destructive fishing, the use of
destructive fi shing gear and methods has
not been effectively prevented in Vietnam
(Nguyen Long RIMF, ftp://ftp.fao.org/
docrep/fao/007/ad939e/ad939e00.pdf). The
challenges in Vietnam for enforcement of the
destructive fi shing legislation are:
•
•
•
The vast geographic area with a coastline
of more than 3260km
A lack of management coordination
between National, Provincial and District
levels
A lack of capacity and human resources
Government agencies with the power to
enforcement destructive fishing legislation
are (Articles 25, 26 & 27 of Decree 128/2005/
ND-CP):
• Fishery Inspectors (Administrative and
Enforcement)
• The Chairs of Provincial/District People’s
Committees
•
125
Other Functional Departments (Force of
Border Military, Force of People Police,
Marine Police)
The administrative structure for management
of fisheries enforcement is provided in
Figure 2. At a national level, NADAREP
is the state authority responsible for
implementing law/regulations relating to
protecting fi shery resources. At the provincial
level, the Department of Aquatic Resources
Exploitation and Protection (DAREP) is the
representative offi ce of NADAREP but is
under the Department of Fisheries (DOFI)
which has a consultation role to the Provincial
Peoples Committee within the fi shery domain
and concerned policies instead of authority
of enforcement. Although NADAREP
directly manage the local fi shery enforcement
inspectorate in terms of line management,
key “additives” such as human resources and
fi nance integral to effective enforcement are
decided by the local People’s Committee.
Due to the above limitation, local fi shery
enforcement has to work in cooperation
with other functional departments (Force
of Border Military, Force of People Police,
Marine Police), however, the “integrated
management” issue is a signifi cant challenge