With just one action, the silver shrimp that disappeared since 1976 now appears in Binh Thuan sea.

Mr. Huynh Quang Huy - Chairman of Binh Thuan Fisheries Association shared the results of people participating in the community to protect and restore local aquatic resources.

He said that Binh Thuan used to have large aquatic resources and was also one of the three key fishing grounds in the country. But at one point, there was nothing left in Binh Thuan's sea. Surveying for 5 consecutive years, scraping 100 square meters did not yield any fish or shrimp.

“The fishermen were very upset at that time. They said if you keep the sea like that, what will our children have to eat?” Mr. Huy recalled. According to him, this was the result of many management policies being ineffective and overloaded.

Developing marine economy. (Photo: Xuan Ngoc)

Binh Thuan has 172km of coastline but only has 3 fisheries control ships with a speed of only 7 nautical miles per hour, while fishing boats have a speed of up to 14 nautical miles per hour. "It's impossible to control," he said. Therefore, the model of letting fishermen manage and restore aquatic resources was born.

“At first, it took me 30 coffee sessions to find 5 fishermen to join the sea protection project, then 10 people, and then I established a committee to mobilize the formation of a community to protect the sea in 2013,” Mr. Huy shared.

The process of setting up this community required 37 documents and 4 rounds of opposition. The initial implementation was very difficult because there were no resources, and many fishermen did not trust it.

However, after only 2 years of effort, the community has shown results. The amount of encroachment has decreased by 90%. Previously, the dredging had destroyed the sea, and not a single shrimp or fish could be caught in 100m2.

In 2015, when surveyed, there were only 426 aquatic species in 1m2. People understood what conservation was, what its effects were, and how to restore aquatic resources. The solution was to make a palm tree ( a type of fishing gear used in coastal fishing to attract and gather fish ) and release it into the sea so that shrimp and fish have a place to grow.

With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Binh Thuan has implemented three such community projects, managing 43 square kilometers along the coast of a district. Since 2017, when UNDP support ended, the models have continued to operate effectively, with people increasingly participating voluntarily and developing even more than before.

“In 2015, there were nights when fishermen could not earn 500,000 VND. Now, there are nights when they earn up to 10 million VND from fishing. Fishermen say that in 40 years they have not seen such a fishing season, with a lot of fish and squid coming back.

Notably, since 1976, silver shrimp - a type with high economic value - has reappeared. One night, a hundred kilograms of this type of shrimp can be caught," Mr. Huy informed.

This is the result of people participating in the community to protect and restore aquatic resources, he emphasized and said that before releasing clusters of palm trees into the sea, they were said to be obstructing maritime traffic. Now fishermen ask for more clusters of palm trees, even spend their own money to buy them and release them into the sea because they see the effectiveness in regenerating shrimp and fish resources.

According to Mr. Huy, to develop the scale of this method, it is possible to mobilize resources from the Aquatic Resources Protection Fund. In addition, building sustainable livelihoods for the community, it is possible to develop ecotourism. However, more investment and participation from businesses are needed for these activities to be effective and sustainable.

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, community-based approaches are one of the directions in the process of changing thinking and social governance. The social community balances the limitations of the State and the market and is the core of the development triangle of the State - market - society.

The Minister said that not taking advantage of resources from communities can create a sense of expectation, dependence, and paralyze initiative, creativity and energy in the community. Therefore, it is necessary to activate the participation of communities, such as establishing clubs to activate participation, autonomy and self-reliance.

Peace of Mind

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