Marine protected areas are facing four major issues

Many governmental leaders are unaware of the shortcomings in the implementation of conservation work. In some localities where fish and shrimp are farmed, local people believe that if fish and shrimp are released in the waters of their province, they will swim to other regions. As a result, raising awareness must be the primary focus before discussing responsibility.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, marine conservation must be implemented thoughtfully.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee held a workshop on December 21 to discuss solutions to strengthen the management of marine and coastal protected areas in Vietnam, and to effectively implement Decree No. Decision 36-NQ/TW dated October 22, 2018 on the sustainable development strategy of Vietnam's marine economy until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

The workshop was attended by Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, various units under the Ministry, leaders of localities, Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of 28 coastal provinces and cities among many others.

Marine conservation is extremely important

Vietnam is a maritime country, with many potentials and advantages from the sea. Vietnam is located in an area with relatively high biodiversity, and is ranked 16th in the world in terms of biodiversity with over 11,000 species of organisms discovered.

Vietnam has discovered: 6,000 benthic species, 2038 fish species, 225 marine shrimp species, 15 sea snake species, 12 marine mammal species, 5 sea turtle species and 43 water bird species, over 100 economic fish species, 653 seaweed species, 657 zooplankton species ; 94 mangrove plant species, 14 seagrass species, and over 400 coral species.

These species reside in more than 20 typical ecosystem types. They have high biological productivity and determine the primary productivity of the sea.

The aforementioned characteristics create a level of diversity in natural landscapes, ecology and marine resources; all of which play an extremely important role in the development of the marine economy as well as the development of fisheries and aquaculture economy.

This is the foundation for Vietnam to develop a strong and sustainable marine economy. 

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien assessed that marine protected areas play an extremely important role in maintaining and conserving marine biodiversity; preserving marine ecosystems; protecting the natural landscape, the natural beauty of the sea; conserving various aquatic species of scientific and economic value; protecting coastal and island coastal strips against coastal erosion. These factors make an important contribution to climate change response and disaster risk reduction for coastal and island areas.

In addition, marine protected areas are responsible for harmonizing socio-economic development with marine environmental protection, creating a green space for the marine tourism industry as well as several other economic sectors to develop towards the sustainable marine economy as set out by the Party and State.

The aquaculture sector has taken significant development steps over the years to become a key economic sector of the country, making Vietnam one of the leading countries in the world in terms of seafood exports.

The export turnover of Vietnam's aquaculture sector reached over 10 billion USD in 2022, which is an increase of 34% compared to that of 2021.

Namely, total fishery production reached 9,042 million tons, including 3,858 million tons of caught products and 5.19 million tons of farmed products.

These achievements have made an important contribution to the economic recovery and development of the country, improving the livelihoods and stabilizing the lives of people in the coastal provinces.

The Deputy Minister also pointed out that, besides the achieved results, the marine economy and the aquaculture sector in particular are facing many difficulties and challenges.

These problems include: the pollution of the marine environment, the degradation of marine ecosystems, the increasingly rapid decline of aquatic resources. The main cause has been identified as the lack of effective management and control of marine economic activities in coastal and island areas. The issue of discharging untreated wastewater and domestic waste directly into the sea is relatively common.

Illegal fishing activities are not strictly controlled. The use of explosives, electric pulses, banned chemicals, poisons, and prohibited fishing gear for fishing is still present. Marine tourism is developed in an uncontrolled and unplanned manner. Environmental protection and marine biodiversity conservation have not received sufficient attention.

All of these problems have directly and indirectly caused the rapid decline in marine biodiversity, aquatic resources as well as the degradation of marine ecosystems.

These challenges have set an urgent requirement for ministries, branches and coastal localities to take drastic and timely actions towards building a sustainable marine economy.

With regards to the role of the sea in the socio-economic development strategy, and the  protection of Vietnam's rights and interests in the East Sea, the 8th Congress of the 12th Central Committee on October 22, 2018 has agreed on Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW on the Strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam's marine economy until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

The Resolution specifically emphasized on: “Good management and protection of marine, coastal and island ecosystems; increase the area of ​​marine and coastal conservation zones to at least 6% of the natural national sea area". The following major policies were also put forward: "Expand the area, establish new marine protected areas based on the national planning; focus on conserving biodiversity, restoring ecosystems, with priority given to coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, coastal protection forests; ensure the integrity and natural relationships between terrestrial and marine ecosystems”.

The resolution is an important basis for coastal localities to lead and direct the sustainable development of the marine economy in an effective and synchronous manner. 

In order to implement the guidelines and goals under Resolution 36-NQ/TW, the Government issued Resolution No. 26 dated March 5, 2020 on promulgating the Government's master plan and 5-year plan in implementing Resolution No. 36 of the Central Committee.

Resolution 36 on the Strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam's marine economy until 2030, with a vision to 2045 is the "guideline" for the development of Vietnam's marine economy as well as marine and coastal localities.

Mr. Le Duc Giang, Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee said that Thanh Hoa has great potential for aquaculture with every types of farming including saltwater, brackish water, fresh water, etc. The province also boasts a great ecosystem of estuaries, intertidal zones, mudflats, mangroves and coral reefs.

Thanh Hoa contains 1 National Marine Protected Area which is Hon Me marine protected area with an area of ​​6,700 hectares, 6,200 of which is the sea surface.

Despite difficulties, Thanh Hoa pays great attention to marine conservation and dedicates resources to survey, research and evaluate aquatic resources.

“Every year we dedicate one month to the protection of aquatic resources. This event typically last for 2 months from March 15 to May 15 and we have established the Ma River Inland Water Reserve flowing through 17 districts and 118 communes", said Mr. Giang.

However, the protection of aquatic resources is only the initial results. According to Mr. Giang, there is currently a "conflict" in economic development and marine conservation.

Although the Government made Hon Me Marine Protected Area one of the 16 national marine protected areas, the Nghi Son Economic Zone was established. Accordingly, the Hon Me Marine Protected Area was classified as a seaport.

"Thanh Hoa has to choose between the protection and development of aquatic resources and economic development. Additionally, the current protection of aquatic resources is facing difficulties due to the limited system of local officials. In several localities, officials are assigned to statistical tasks, and the protection of aquatic resources was subsequently neglected.

Many governmental leaders are unaware of the shortcomings in the implementation of conservation work. In some localities where fish and shrimp are farmed, local people believe that if fish and shrimp are released in the waters of their province, they will swim to other regions. As a result, it is necessary to be unified in awareness and drastic in action to improve the protection of aquatic resources", said Vice Chairman Le Duc Giang.

Four major issues in marine protected areas

Marine protected areas currently faces many difficulties, including inadequacies in management, lack of timeliness, authority and low management efficiency. The role of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in advising on state management of marine conservation is still limited; professional qualifications of management staff for marine protected areas and national parks are limited; there is a lack of resources, and human resources investment in protected areas.

In addition, the general awareness across all levels regarding the position and role of marine protected areas in the sustainable development of the economic sector is inadequate. The state management system for marine conservation has many shortcomings, and there is a lack of coordination between ministries, branches and central government.

"Conservation is a very important task, however, many protected areas are still suffering from the lack of fund, authority, means, and facilities. These problems have persisted for many years, but they have not been rectified", said Mr. Le Tran Nguyen Hung, Director of the Department of Aquatic Resources Conservation and Development under the Directorate of Fisheries.

Mr. Hung also said that the legal system on marine conservation and biodiversity is complete, however, it is still lacking an effective and sustainable marine conservation management. 

"There is no incentives for those who directly engage in marine conservation work in protected areas; policies to support career change for fishermen in and around the protected areas are limited", emphasized Mr. Hung.

In order to improve the operational efficiency of protected areas, it is necessary to issue a policy on collecting entrance fees at protected areas, share revenue from conservation and tourism activities in protected areas with the management boards.

However, the current fee collection in some localities faces many difficulties due to the lack of legal regulations. Meanwhile, the law stipulates that only recognized scenic areas can collect fees.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien concluded that marine conservation in the modern area requires an emphasis on practicality.

The twenty-first century is the century of maritime nations. Vietnam has a high biodiversity in terms of marine ecosystems, but if we fail to preserve them now, it might be impossible to do so in the future.

Consequently, effective conservation requires awareness from the Party committees, authorities and people; complete and implement co-management of marine conservation works; improve state management responsibility regarding conservation issues; socialize conservation activities, create funding sources for activities; raise awareness regarding conservation through communication activities; enhance international cooperation in conservation activities and so on.