Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Vietnam's Marine Fisheries

Abstract

Vietnam’s capture fisheries play a significant role in the country’s socioeconomic development. However, COVID-19 has seriously impacted Vietnam’s coastal communities and marine fisheries. This study aimed to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnam’s marine fisheries, recommend solutions to help fishers recover their operations and suggest long-term policies for similar pandemics in the future. A survey was conducted in 12 coastal provinces across Vietnam’s North, North Central, South Central and South West regions using mixed methods, including online questionnaires and group discussions via Google Meet from June to August 2021. The study involved 109 fishing vessel captains, fishers and owners who participated when social distancing in most coastal provinces was still enforced. The results showed that 87% of the fishers experienced negative to strongly negative impacts of COVID-19 on their fisheries activities. The most significant difficulties faced by fishers were accessing the fishing port and dealing with the logistics procedures of docking and departure, accounting for 77.1 %, 72.5 % and 76.1 %, respectively. The fishers also reported reduced seafood demand and price, and difficulties in seafood transportation. Most respondents expected the government to effectively support fisheries activities and facilitate seafood marketing during an ongoing pandemic. The results of this study are crucial in developing policy solutions to restore disrupted fish supply chains, enhancing online selling or e-commerce in fisheries marketing, and implementing timely subsidy policies to support Vietnam’s marine fisheries sectors during a pandemic.