Sustaining Vietnam’s small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication

This research project is built around the analysis and dissemination of a study for sustainable management of small-scale fisheries in Vietnam. Despite the vital contribution to well-beings of coastal communities, overexploitation and poor management for many years have brought Vietnam’s small-scale fisheries to an uncertain future, causing the vulnerability to poverty and food insecurity among fishing households. This research aims to 1) analyze the economic performance of small-scale fisheries in Vietnam; 2) examine the contribution of small-scale fisheries to food security and poverty eradication; 3) examine the role of women in the small-scale fisheries sector as well as the potential for women empowerment in sustainable fisheries management; and 4) to investigate fishers’ preferences for sustainable fisheries management measures in the linkage with SSF guidelines released by FAO (2015) to secure the small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication. To solve the research objectives, multiple approaches are employed, such as data envelopment analysis, regression analysis, gendered division of labor, and discrete choice experiment. With the focus on the participation and human-right based approach, the research will provide policy implications to support the sustainable management of fisheries resources and small-scale fisheries in line with the SSF guidelines and enhance well-beings and gender equality for coastal communities in Vietnam.