Assessing the future of small-scale fishery systems in coastal Vietnam and the implications for policy

Our aim in this paper is to examine the future for small-scale fishers and fish producers in the rapidly changing Tam Giang Lagoon in central Vietnam. The analysis shows: (1) the multi-dimensional and linked social, ecological and economic challenges confronting lagoon resource users and government officials, including the possibility that important features of the ecological system have been significantly altered; and (2) the spatial and temporal variation in the lived experience and conditions facing lagoon resource users even in the context of one relatively-bounded physical system. In this context, policy and management interventions need to better reflect social and ecological variability, incorporate local perspectives about the future of small-scale fishing and small producer aquaculture, and acknowledge how individuals simultaneously produce, resist and adapt to change. Key policy responses include the adoption of an integrated fishery (fishing and aquaculture) and coastal systems perspective, clarifying security of access rights to aquatic resources, and building institutional conditions for greater collaboration and learning among resource users and decision makers. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.