Some Issues on Livelihoods of Fishermen in Coastal Area of Hai Phong City

Abstract

      Fishery economy is one of the key economic sectors of Hai Phong city that contributes about over 2.3% share to the city’s GDP and provides about 2,000 employment positions per year on average in the 2005-2012 period. In 2012, seafood exports from Haiphong reached USD 36.5 million, a positive contribution to the city’s overall economic growth. However, most fishermen in the coastal areas of Hai Phong city are still considered as a difficult and socially disadvantaged target group. The issues such as the depletion of marine resources, especially coastal resources, Eastsea conflicts, competition for fishing area and others have a great impact on fishermen’s livelihoods. Although there are many guidelines and policies on the development of marine fishery and support for fishermen, the results are still limited. Based on the theory of livelihood, some issues related to the life, and the employment of fishermen in Haiphong, this paper focused on analysis and evaluation to clarify the status of fishermen’s livelihood resources (human, natural, physical, social and financial resources), the impact of vulnerable environment to fishermen’s livelihoods, and the implementation of fishery development and fishermen support policies of Hai Phong City in the past period, thereby recommending solutions to help fishermen improve their livelihoods, generate employment stability, increase their incomes and minimize risks and damages caused by the vulnerable environment.