Vietnam’s capture fisheries labor shortage explored: difficulties and responses
Abstract
The fishing industry plays an essential role in Vietnam’s socioeconomic development, providing jobs to millions of workers. In recent years, fishing labor shortages have occurred on many fishing vessels in all capture fisheries, including small-scale and larger-scale fisheries in Vietnam. However, information pertaining to Vietnam’s fishing laborers has been limited for many years. In this study, a combination of secondary data methods and analysis of survey interviews with fishers who are fishing vessels’ owners and fisheries authorities in some key coastal provinces was used to answer the following questions: i) what are the difficulties in recruiting fishing labor in Vietnam’s capture fisheries? ii) How do fishing vessel owners respond to fishing labor’s shortages? Study results show many difficulties in crew labor issues in Vietnam in terms of finding crew members and maintaining minimum conditions for the number of workers on fishing vessels. Many reasons are found that cause the shortage of fishing laborers working on vessels. The owners of the fishing vessel have various ways to address this situation, including forcing fishing vessels to lie ashore or even go fishing in the case of labor shortage, switching to alternatives that require fewer human resources, actively seeking labor in other areas such as remote and mountainous areas, and increasing the share rate and deposit for fishing vessels fishing mates. Several solutions are proposed according to the results to overcome the labor shortage in Vietnam's capture fisheries.
References
Alonso G, Marschke M (2023) Blue boats in deep waters: how aspects of IUU policy impact Vietnamese fish workers. Maritime Studies 22: 1–10.
Beckman R (2013) The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the maritime disputes in the South China Sea. American Journal of International Law 107(1): 142–163.
Chokesanguan B, Rajruchithong S, Wanchana W (2010) Enhancing safety at sea for small-scale fishing boats in Southeast Asia. Fish for the People 8: 23–31.
Coning ED (2011) Transnational organized crime in the fishing industry: focus on: trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, illicit drugs trafficking. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Accessed April 6, 2022.
Dang H (2021) Effective application of hydraulic purse seine winches in Vietnam’s fishing industry. Thanh Hoa Newspaper. Accessed September 4, 2022.
Dang Khoa V (2020) Ha Tinh fishermen go out to sea after Tet holiday. VietNamNet News. Accessed April 5, 2023.
Dao HV (2020) The capture fisheries is struggling because of the lack of fishing labours. Accessed May 16, 2022.
DoFi (2020a) The Report No. 1527/BC-TCTS-KTTS, dated 10 August 2020, on reporting the status on fishing labours. Hanoi, Vietnam.
DoFi (2020b) Decision No. 782/BC-TCTS-KTTS, results on fishing capacity in Vietnam up to 2020. Hanoi, Vietnam.
DoFi (2021) Current status and solutions to improve the efficiency of seafood fishing, processing and consumption in 2021 and orientation to 2030. Hanoi, Vietnam.
DoFi (2022) Report on summarizing the fisheries sector in 2022 and deploying tasks in 2023. Hanoi, Vietnam.
Ducanes G, Abella M (2008) Labour shortage responses in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia: a review and evaluation (Working paper No. 2). International Labour Office. ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Asian Regional Programme on Governance of Labour Migration, Bangkok.
Duy NN, Flaaten O (2015) Government support and profitability effects–Vietnamese offshore fisheries. Marine policy 61: 77–86.
EJF (2014) Slavery at sea: the continued plight of trafficked migrants in Thailand’s fishing industry. Environ. Justice Found. Accessed May 16, 2022.
EJF (2019) Illegal fishing and child labour in Vietnam’s fishing fleet. The Environmental Justice Found. Accessed May 16, 2022.
Garcia L, Alejandro J, Jessica L, Sparks D, Durgana DP, ... Kittinger JN (2022) Decent work in fisheries: current trends and key considerations for future research and policy. Marine Policy 136: 104922.
Goodkind DM (1995) Vietnam’s one-or-two-child policy in action. Population and Development Review 21(1): 85–111.
Ha TTP, van Dijk H (2013) Fishery livelihoods and (non) compliance with fishery regulations—a case study in Ca Mau Province, Mekong Delta, Viet Nam. Marine Policy 38: 417–427.
Hao ND (2012) Gender issues in the fishery communities of the central coastal provinces of Vietnam. Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries: Moving the Agenda Forward. Asian Fisheries Science: 25S:129–143.
Hao NH (2014) Research on solutions to improve the quality of tuna on handline fishing boats with light in Binh Dinh province, Vietnam. Master thesis, Nha Trang University.
Harper S, Grubb C, Stiles M, Sumaila UR (2017) Contributions by women to fisheries economies: insights from five maritime countries. Coastal Management 45: 91–106.
Hau P (2022a) Young workers are shifting in rural Vietnam, only the elderly and children are left. Thanh Nien Newspaper. Accessed April 5, 2023.
Hau P (2022b) Serious shortage of seafarers: need to amend some policies. Thanh Nien Newspaper. Accessed November 1, 2022.
Hodal K (2015) Thailand failing to tackle fishing industry slavery, says rights group. The Guardian. Accessed November 1, 2022.
ILO (2011) Research report on rural labour and employment in Vietnam. International Labour Organization. www.ilo.org. Accessed November 01, 2022.
ILO (2015) GAPfish Global Action Programme against forced labour and trafficking of fishers at sea. International Labour Organization.
ILO (2022) International labour standards on fishers. International Labour Organization. www.ilo.org. Accessed May 17, 2022.
ILO (2023b) Ratifications of ILO conventions: ratifications for Viet Nam. International Labour Organization. www.ilo.org. Accessed May 01, 2023.
ILO (2023c) International labor standards. International Labour Organization. www.ilo.org. Accessed May 1, 2023.
Khoi C (2022) Fishing vessel in Policy No. 67 is stuck in big trouble, it needs to amend 7 policies soon. VNEconomy. Accessed October 28, 2022.
Lam TX (2021) Researching solutions to improve production efficiency for ocean tuna handline-fishing in Binh Dinh province, Vietnam. Master thesis, Nha Trang University.
Liem PD (2015) Research and propose solutions to improve the quality of tuna on fishing boats in Vietnam. Ministerial Project, Research Institute of Marine Hai Phong, Vietnam.
MARD (2018) Circular No. 22/2018/TT-BNNPTNT, dated 15 November 2018, stipulating on crew members of fishing vessels and fisheries offical of authorities vessels. 35 pp. Accessed October 28, 2022.
MARD (2022) Circular No. 01/2022/TT-BNNPTNT dated January 18, 2022 on amendments to circulars in fisheries sectors. 23 pp. Accessed October 28, 2022.
Marschke M, Betcherman G (2016) Vietnam’s seafood boom: economic growth with impoverishment? Environment, Development and Sustainability 18: 1129–1150.
Molisa (2017) Exported nearly 5,000 crew members. Accessed May 1, 2022. Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Ndo (2022) Central region fishermen busy preparing for first trip of new year. Nhan Dan Online. Accessed April 5, 2022.
NUS (2023) Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. Accessed May 1, 2022.
Office of the Government (2013) The Prime Minister approved the Project “Implementing the provisions of the STCW Convention 78/2010”. Accessed May 1, 2022.
Office of the Government (2014a) Decree No. 121/2014/ND-CP guiding the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 on the labor regime for seafarers working on vessels. Accessed April 6, 2022.
Office of the Government (2014b) Decree No. 67/2014/NĐ-CP dated 07 July 2014 regulate fisheries management policies. Ha Noi, Vietnam. 11 pp.
Office of the Government (2018) Decision No. 1047/QD-TTg dated on 17 August 2018 regarding the approval of the project to develop the ocean fishing industry and send fishers to operate in the waters of some countries. Ha Noi, Vietnam. 4 pp.
Office of the Government (2019) Decree No. 26/2019/NĐ-CP dated 08 March 2019 guiding the implementation of Fisheries Law. Ha Noi, Vietnam. 77 pp. Accessed April 6, 2022.
Office of the National Assembly (2013) Consolidation document 14/VBHN-VPQH in 2013 consolidating the Ordinance on Population issued by the Office of the National Assembly. MinhKhue Law. Accessed October 29, 2022.
Office of the National Assembly (2017) The Fisheries Law - Law no. 18/2017/QH14, issued on 21 November 2017, effective on 1 January 2019, Ha Noi, Vietnam. Accessed October 29, 2022.
Office of the National Assembly (2019) Vietnamese Labour Code. The Law no. 45/2019/QH14, dated on 20/11/2019. Ha Noi, Vietnam. 83 pp.
Pham TDT, Huang HW, Chuang CT (2014) Finding a balance between economic performance and capacity efficiency for sustainable fisheries: Case of the Da Nang gillnet fishery, Vietnam. Marine Policy 44: 287–294.
Phuong TV, Phu TD (2013) Managing overcapacity of small-scale fisheries in Vietnam. Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center. Fish for the People 11(2): 32–41.
Phuong TV, Pomeroy R (2022) Combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and removing yellow card from European Commission (EC): Vietnam’s Determined Actions. Asian Fisheries Science 35: 13–25.
Pomeroy R, Nguyen KAT, Thong HX (2009) Small-scale marine fisheries policy in Vietnam. Marine Policy 33: 419–428.
Rimf (2019) Project on developing high-quality human resources in the capture fisheries. Hai phong, Vietnam. 110 pp. Accessed October 28, 2022.
Siason I, Tech E, Matics KI, Choo PS, Shariff M, ... Sunderarajan MC (2002) Women in fisheries in Asia. In: Global Symposium on Women in Fisheries. WorldFish. Accessed October 29, 2022.
Thanh TD, Saito Y, Huy DV, Nguyen VL, Ta TKO, Tateishi M (2004) Regimes of human and climate impacts on coastal changes in Vietnam. Regional Environmental Change 4: 49–62.
The Guardian (2019) Vietnam boats using child labour for illegal fishing. The Guardian. Accessed April 5, 2023.
Thuan DCN, Tuan HA (2021) Completing the law on the supply of Vietnamese crew members working on foreign fishing vessels. Labor and Trade Union e-magazine. Accessed May 1, 2023.
Thung D, Khanh L (2022a) Fishing labor faces consequences due to weakness and shortage of professional workers. Vietnam Agriculture Magazine. Accessed June 4, 2022.
Thung D, Khanh L (2022b) Fishing labor faces consequences due to weakness and shortage of professional workers. Vietnam Agriculture Magazine, Hà Nội.
Tien NH, Trang TTT, Diem DL, Ngoc PB (2021) Development of tourism in south central coastal provinces of Vietnam. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 18: 1408–1427.
UNFPA (2019) Report on Vietnamese youth in the period of 2015-2018. United Nations Population Fund. Accessed February 17, 2023.
Vietnam News (2019) Labour shortage hinders development of offshore fishing in central region. Vietnam News. Accessed February 17, 2023.
Vietnam News (2021) Fishing industry suffering manpower shortage. Vietnam News. Accessed February 17, 2023.
Vietnam News (2023a) Fishermen pleased with haul from first voyage of new year. Vietnam News. Accessed April 5, 2023.
Vietnam News (2023b) Calls for better efficiency in fishing industry to improve labour shortages. Accessed April 10, 2023.
Vietnamlaw (2012) Vietnam - a responsible member of UNCLOS. Accessed April 06, 2023
Vietnamnet (2021) Lack of quality human resources affect Vietnam’s fisheries activities. Vietnamnet. Accessed April 5, 2023.
Vinamex (2022) Announcement to recruit crew members of near-shore fishing vessels to work in Korea. Vinamex Company - Japanese Labor Export. Accessed May 1, 2023.
World Bank (2021) A Trade-Based Analysis of the Economic Impact of Non-compliance with Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Regulations: the case of Vietnam. Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producer. Accessed April 15, 2022.
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
