Recommendations to reduce fishery production for sustainable development of the marine economy

This morning, May 12, the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced the report “Blue sea economy – Towards a sustainable development scenario”. economy sea” within the framework of the “International Conference on Sustainable Ocean Economy and Adaptation to Climate Change”.

Blue sea economy is the development trend of the world, especially the countries with the sea. This is one of the first studies in Vietnam on marine economic development using the concept of blue sea economy. The report presents “blue scenarios for marine economic development for Vietnam”, including six key marine economic sectors of Vietnam: fisheries, renewable energy, oil and gas, tourism, and transportation. transport, environment and ecology.

A number of scenarios up to 2030 have been developed for each sector and sector, including a baseline scenario and a “sustainable development” or “blue” scenario, consistent with the concept of a green economy and blue sea economy.

The blue scenario brings outstanding benefits in terms of contribution of GDP (gross domestic product), GNI (national income) of marine economic sectors and income per capita for marine workers. The study shows that with the applied blue scenario, GDP will be 296 trillion dong (12.9 billion USD) higher than the base scenario in 2025 and 538 trillion dong ($23.5 billion) in 2020, respectively. year 2030.

Accordingly, many policy recommendations have been made to achieve the green scenario trajectory, including:

For fisheries and aquaculture: reduce capture fisheries to maximum sustainable yields (approximately 2.7 million tonnes per year) by reducing catches by 2% per year, including reducing 5% of coastal ship horsepower per year; maintain aquaculture acreage and improve management to lead to a safe yield increase of 3.5% per year.

For oil and gas: Promoting energy saving in oil and gas production activities; strengthen environmental protection and increase participation in the emerging marine renewable energy production sector.

Regarding marine renewables: Rapid expansion of marine renewable energy sources to reach 10,000 MW installed by 2030, including about 4,500 MW of nearshore wind (mainly in the Mekong Delta) and 5,500 MW of external wind offshore (mainly in the South Central region).

Tourism: Promote the growth of international visitors from 8-10%/year and domestic tourists from 5-6%/year by 2030; reaching 1.6 million tourist beds with a occupancy rate of 65% by 2030; incorporate the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, into tourism planning.

Finally, for maritime transport: Increase shipping by 20.6% or market share by 2030; increase the volume of goods transported to 787 million tons; and expand domestic transport to 289 million tons.

Mr. Ta Dinh Thi, Vice Chairman of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee of the National Assembly, former Director of the General Department of Seas and Islands of Vietnam said:The report makes a number of important recommendations to promote the blue sea economy in Vietnam, contributing to the successful implementation of the strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam’s marine economy to 2030, with a vision to 2045 and other goals. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.“.

Meanwhile, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam emphasized:It is important to accelerate the marine spatial planning and policies needed to exploit the enormous potential of the marine economy. While the potential is huge for Vietnam’s fishing and aquaculture sectors, marine renewable energy (especially offshore wind), biodiversity ecosystem services, and tourism – what matters. It is crucial to balance the growth of these closely linked sectors, since the growth of one industry can affect others.“.