Research context

In  the  last  decades, Vietnamese  fisheries  have  developed  intensively.  This  sector  is  of  course  of  primary
importance for Vietnam from a socio-economical point of view. However, the consequences of fishing activity intensification  can  be  very
harmful  for  the  marine  ecosystem and  can  lead  to  severe  reduction,  or  even depletion,  of  some  fish  stocks.  To 
try  keeping  a  sustainable  development,  a  fishery  management  strategy  has been approved for Vietnam in 2010. The goal was to
reduce the coastal fishing pressure and to intensify offshore fishing.  A  strong  limitation  in  this  management  strategy 
was  to  make  decisions  only  based  on  single  stock assessment. This latter does not take into consideration the numerous
interactions between the different species at the ecosystem level. The scientific community has undertaken the analysis of marine
ecosystems through mathematical models for several decades. In 2008, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations),
advocated the use of ecosystem modeling for an ecosystem approach to fisheries management(FAO, 2008).


Objectives

This  project  focuses  on  the development  of  mathematical  models  for  an  ecosystem  approach  to  fisheries management in
Vietnam. The general goal is to propose models that can be reliably used to develop an efficient fisheries management strategy.