February 2015

January 2015- TUY HOA, Phu Yen Province, Vietnam- Fishing & Living and the Vietnam Tuna Fisheries Association (Vinatuna) met with the local fisheries authorities in Phu Yen province (sub-Decafirep) and Anova’s main supply chain partner (Hong Ngoc Seafood) to discuss the on-going Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) for Longline and Handline Yellowfin tuna. The meeting last a couple of hours and consisted of going over the needed activities for the Phu Yen tuna fishery. Phu Yen sub-Decafirep was happy to see Anova approach them for conducting fishery improvement activities and expressed great interest in any future cooperation.

Report of the meeting on Phu Yen news.

The priorities identified by Anova, Vinatuna and Phu Yen for fishery improvements were:

1)   Data collection

• Logbooks: the logbook program in Phu Yen currently covers 50% of trips, mainly due to limited budget. On top of this, the usability of submitted logbooks is 50% due to incorrect filling by fishermen.

• Port sampling: overall, port sampling coverage is considered good and has been strengthened since 2010. However, the Phu Yen government often has issues with carrying out port sampling activities due to low cooperation of fishermen and suppliers

• Observers: With regards to bait, Endangered Threatened and Protected (ETP) species and by catch, accurate information is currently not available and not known with certainty in this fishery due to too few observers available.

2)   Local capacity building: local stakeholder have limited knowledge on topics such as Fishery Improvement Projects and Marine Stewardship Certification. Fishermen and local traders may also have limited understanding on the need for accurate data collection and fisheries management that aims for sustainable fisheries.

3)   Traceability: it is important that the chain of custody of tuna products coming from the fishery engaged in a FIP is well traced from capture to sale. Anova and Hong Ngoc are currently assessing all aspect of the supply chain to identify potential required improvements to meet the FIP traceability requirements.

Fishing & Living has prepared a FIP action plan specifically focused on the Phu Yen tuna fishery. This action plan is based on the on the overall WWF FIP action plan and the Partner Agreement with WWF, signed last December (2014). These activities include field activities to improve data collection by working with local fisheries authorities and Anova’s supply chain partners and activities to improve fishing practices through gear improvement and sustainability training of fishermen and local traders. The full F&L FIP action plan can be found here.

The outcome of the meetings with VinaTuna, sub-Decafirep and Hong Ngoc were to conduct a fishermen and trader FIP training before the fishing season starts. Anova/Fishing & Living agreed to support improvements with regards to logbooks, port sampling, observers, vessel registration and fishermen training.

 About Vinatuna: Established in 2010, Vinatuna is a social – occupational organization whose work is focused on the sustainable use and protection of tuna resources in Vietnam. Vinatuna also provides support to the tuna industry with regards to improvement of fishing methods, maintenance of quality on-board and market access by bringing together tuna processors, tuna fishers and relevant fisheries government institutions. Since 2012, Vinatuna has been working closely with WWF Vietnam on setting up the Handline/Longline Yellowfin FIP through a series of consultative workshops and engagement of relevant stakeholders. Vinatuna website and Facebook Page

 About Phu Yen sub-Decafirep: Phu YenSub-Decafirep is the provincial branch of Decafirep, the national level agency responsible for management and development of marine capture fisheries