Co-management of living coastal resources in ASEAN: theory, practice, and implications for Vietnam

Abstract

A training course focusing upon the policy implications of the participation of resource users in fisheries management regimes was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Fisheries of Viet Nam (57 Ngoc Ba Dinh, Ha Noi) between May 15-17, 1995. Organized jointly by the Ministry of Fisheries, the Oceans Institute of Canada, the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resource Management, and the "Viet Nam -Canada Ocean and Coastal Cooperation Program", the course brought together more than thirty Viet Namese participants from throughout the country. Regional experience in forms of co-management or community-based management for living coastal resource use was described in detail by a contingent of 12 resource persons from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Holland, Canada and Viet Nam. Discussion periods followed each presentation, and were continued at the end of each day. Viet Namese coastal environmental issues and trends of relevance were examined by the participants in three working groups (focusing on the co-management model as applied to 1. coastal fisheries, 2. marine protected areas, and 3. aquaculture). Recommendations for next steps in the development of co-management activities in Viet Nam were drawn up jointly by participants and resource persons at the end of the training course. These were accepted by the MoF, and the next course will support some of these recommendations.