Overall objective(s) : To make shrimp brackish water aquaculture, an essential economic activity in the Mekong delta, sustainable in order to increase households revenues and reduce rural depopulation, while protecting the ecosystem.

Project purpose :

1. To confirm on a significant sample of sites the reliability of quantifiable relationships between shrimp production and ecological indicators, issued from previous research work (STD3)

2. To analyse farming practices and social behaviour on the same sites in order to determine those allowing lowest environmental and economic costs;

3. To carry out mapping of mangrove vegetation, soil and salt intrusions and land use over the 3 sub-areas. To implement and feed a database focused on farms, start point of future monitoring.

4. To increase capacity building of scientists, local fisheries authorities and farmers groups through a strong involvement in the programme. Vietnamese partners are expected to collect and process field data under supervision of the EU experts, follow short-term and long-term training courses, organize and participate in a real case study and seminars.

5. To provide the Vietnamese counterparts with the tools and methods making them able to devise a follow-up development project extended to the whole of the Mekong delta (and possibly elsewhere).

Immediate outputs :

1. proper methods and guidelines (ecological, zootechnical and socio-economic) to help Vietnamese authorities better evaluate the real potential of the Mekong delta for brackish water aquaculture.

2. operational tools (know-how and software) to collect, handle and keep data up to date with a view to ensuring future monitoring: data bases, mapping, image analysis and statistical processing.

3. capacity building and training  :

* short-term training courses in Europe : ecology, mapping and GIS, socio- economics, statistics,

* long term training courses  (AIT Bangkok),

* hands-on workshop at mid-project for fisheries officers,

* initial and final workshops to raise consciousness of decision-makers about project relevance and outputs.

Long term outputs :

It is expected that the Vietnamese counterpart will be more aware of the relevance of a rigorous approach to aquaculture allocation and environment quality monitoring, using methodologies and operational tools designed by the project. In addition, links will be reinforced between scientists, local partners and decisional bodies.  

Activity 1 - Definition of ecological indicators of environmental diagnosis and aquaculture potential assessment

Activity 2 -    Analysis of practices and socio-economics of shrimp farming

Activity 3 - Ecosystem and land-use mapping and data base,

Activity 4 - Integration  of results,  statistical  analysis,  production of methodological guidelines, dissemination of results

Activity 5 - Training program, workshop and seminars