In examining the series of training courses of fishery livelihood projects, undertaken by the Center for International Collaboration on Aquaculture and Sustainable Fisheries (ICAFIS), during the second quarter of 2011 in Quang Nam, Mr. Tuong Phi Lai, representative of RECERD, found considerable difficulties in developing livelihood models for women and youth.  

Of the 6 communes within the project area, five poor communes (Duy Nghia, Duy Hai, Binh Hai, Binh Nam, and Tam Tien) were under Program 257 for coastal area and island communes with special difficulties..
 
In Quang Nam, women have no work for half each year and young men go to work for boat-owners in Da Nang, Quang Ngai and elsewhere. There are various reasons for this. Among them are that fishermen  lack the cash to build large ships, and the area is not suitable for constructing fishing ports, landing sites, and other infrastructure. Lack of experience at sea and health conditions are both low, making it difficult for young people to escape from poverty. Life and making a livelihood is particularly hard in this area. “We have tried to raise some unfamiliar animals like iguanas in the sand area of Binh Nam. However, iguanas need a long time to grow, escape easily and die for reasons we don’t understand. This does not yield a profit”, Mr. Nguyen Ba Thanh – a fisherman in Binh Nam - complained.  “In 2008, my wife and I also tried to borrow, to accumulate capital and build the urchins (I DO NOT UNDERSTAND what do you mean by URCHINS? farming model, but interest rates in Quang Nam were extremely high; one urchins couple costs 50 million VND. We cannot afford that amount”,  Ms. Dao Thi Mai, a member of Tam Tien Women Union  The Binh Hai commune leader also said "most of the area is sandy and saline soil, the weather is unfavourable, infrastructure is poor, investment capital is limited, and people have little information. Rice development is not the way to earn a living. Fishing is the only way of obtaining a livelihood. In recent years, fishery productivity has been greatly reduced by the destructive fishing such small fish farmers to have no chance. In addition, safety at sea issues are problems, and  typhoons make fishing both uncertain and dangerous. We hope that fisheries livelihoods projects can help fishermen escape from poverty, create new jobs for fishermen, women and youth, reduced fishing pressure,  and increased control to reduce exploitation and destruction in coastal areas, Ms. Dao Thi Mai added"
 
"Recently, the development of white shrimp farming in the sand area was effective in some communes. However, this industry requires large capital; it requires 150 million VND just to start a farm," Mr. Pham Duy Chien said. He added that “this job is quite hard. To build a pond requires digging in the sand or removing coastal protective mangrove forests, and to dig well. It causes landslides and degradation. This work is quite risky, and needs much investment capital. So it is not for the poor. Most of the white shrimp farms in Binh Nam commune belong to the owners, who rent the land here.”
 
"Women hope to find suitable jobs. We would like to visit the other provinces to see models to increase the income of women. I know some models for mushroom cultivation. It is not quite developed here yet. A model for household raising of freshwater eel and frog was mentioned. However, water here is salty, so eels and frogs do not grow well. Production of marine fish like grouper and cobia is possible, but requires much capital. Severe storms are also a problem,"Ms. Nguyen Vi Thu, of Binh Hai commune explained.
 
For more information please contact Mr. Tuong Phi Lai, email: lai.recerd @ gmail.com
Thao Nhi