Vietnam’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Development’s Policy: Are Exports Performance Targets Sustainable?

The Master Plan through 2020 and vision to 2030 (here called the Master Plan) on Vietnam’s fisheries and aquaculture development aims to ensure this sector will be leading commodity producer by focusing on high value-added growth and sustainable development. Although, in the past Vietnam has achieved high growth rates in seafood exports, problems with the policy making process and implementing the Master Plan’s road map are major obstacles to achieving the sustainability targets. By pointing out the main impacts of seafood exports on Vietnam’s environment, economics and society and comparing the current situation with the fundamentals of sustainable development, the authors assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the Vietnam Master Plan, as well as its sustainability. Furthermore, the paper urges Vietnamese seafood exporters to acknowledge the importance of sustainable development when adapting to the international sea legislation and developing technical standards. This is intended to answer a big question of Vietnam’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors: How to ensure an adequate focus on sustainable development while promoting increased exports and international competitiveness in the context of globalization and FTAs?
Some key findings of the research include:
1. A big gap exists between the sustainability goal of Vietnam’s Master Plan and the current situation regarding the environment, economics and society as it relates to Vietnam’s fishery exports.
2. Sustainable development requires Vietnam’s policy makers to adopt detailed roadmaps for implementation and
3. Lack of active participation by the industry in policy development and marine infrastructure development strategy for seafood exports and supply chains in aquaculture is impeding productivity increases and the international competitiveness of the Vietnam’s fishery exports.