Fishery livelihoods and (non-)compliance with fishery regulations—A case study in Ca Mau Province, Mekong Delta, Viet Nam

Fishery in Ca Mau, Viet Nam’s most southern province in the Mekong Delta, plays locally an important role for human nutrition and has great potentials for export earnings. The overexploitation of inshore fishing resources is a major problem in Viet Nam’s coastal areas along the Mekong Delta. As a result, the Catch per Unit of Effort of small-scale fishing enterprises has decreased, undermining the sustainability of livelihoods of fishing families. The paper focuses on livelihoods’ strategies and diversification in the context of overexploitation and exhaustion of near-shore resources in relation to fishery policies. The results show that overexploitation is unavoidable in near-shore waters because of the lack of enforcement of fishery regulations for offshore vessels and the limitation of alternative sources of income and opportunities for livelihood diversification for small-scale fishers. The present policies to prevent overexploitation need to be reconciled with livelihood sustainability and fishery management, resource conservation and socio-economic goals ⺠The livelihoods of many small scale fishers are unsustainable. ⺠They fish intensively to secure livelihoods and reduce vulnerabilities. ⺠They are accused of violating fishery regulations and causing resource degradation. ⺠However, not only small scale fishermen are the violators. ⺠Options for outside fishing diversification and effective fishery management are suggested.