Traditional community-based coastal marine fisheries management in Viet Nam
Abstract Despite more than a century of colonial occupation, radical political and administrative change, and more recent motorization of fleets and gear introductions, there remains in Viet Nam a still functioning tradition of local stakeholder organizations (van chai) by which marine fishing communities historically regulated the fishery and ensured mutual assistance for their membership. Such systems remain strong in many coastal communities, especially in the Central and Southern regions, largely because their moral authority and leadership is deeply rooted in and legitimated by traditional religion, expressed in the community “whale” shrine. In 1963, one such community organization, in Binh Thuan Province of the Central Region, comprehensively documented its traditional regulations to inform future generations. That document is analyzed here, and supplemented and complemented by information from seven other marine fisheries van chai in the Central and Southern regions. A brief historical introduction and a description of the official fisheries management systems are followed by an analysis of the structure of the traditional community-based system, in terms of authority, rights, rules, monitoring, accountability, conflict resolution, and sanctions. Since in many localities substantial and fundamental aspects of the traditional van chai system continue to function, it is concluded that these traditional systems, suitably adapted to modern conditions, could enhance fisheries management at the lowest administrative levels in Viet Nam.