The Ben Tre clam fishery in Viet Nam has received a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, becoming the first fishery in Southeast Asia to meet the organisation’s sustainability and management standards.
Nationally renowned Ben Tre hard clams (Meretrix lyrata) are picked by hand using metal rakes and collected in mesh sacks. Once collected, the clams are sold to domestic markets and exported to Europe, the US, Japan, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
Ben Tre Province boasts 65km of coastal area and contains more than 4,800ha of protected mangroves. In this important region of tremendous biodiversity, the clam fishery plays a vital economic role.
The fishery is operated by local co-operatives that provide close management and surveillance of the broodstock and harvestable clams within their area. Support and advice are provided to the co-operatives by the Ben Tre People’s Committee and the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). Ben Tre DARD and WWF co-sponsored the MSC certification process.
"Although our clams are largely familiar to the EU market, we are still thinking of ways to better promote our business overseas," said Tran Thi Thu Nga, vice director of Ben Tre DARD. "MSC certification gives us the right to promote our products with the credible MSC ecolabel to customers worldwide."
"I congratulate the Ben Tre clam fishery on their MSC certification. This is an historic occasion – the first small-scale, community-based fishery in Southeast Asia to achieve MSC certification," said MSC Chief Executive Rupert Howes. "I am also delighted to hear that the certification is already bringing benefits to the communities who depend upon this sustainable resource and very much hope other Vietnamese fisheries will soon come forward into the third-party assessment process."
In 1997, provincial authorities established the Rang Dong Fishery Co-operative, which is managed by the fishing community. In 2007, the co-operative’s profits reached VND40 billion (US$2.2 million), greatly improving the income of its members. Already, 10 additional clam co-operatives have been established, forming an alliance of co-operatives that covers all clam areas in Ben Tre.
"It is our pleasure to contribute to the first MSC certification in Viet Nam and in Southeast Asia," said WWF Fisheries Officer Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy. "One of our major tasks is to harmonise economic development with the maintenance of the natural environment. MSC certification of the Ben Tre clam fishery is such a success. Importantly, the Ben Tre fishery can now serve as a model sustainable fishery at both national and regional levels."
"As the first MSC-certified fishery in Southeast Asia, the Ben Tre clam fishery will play a key role in demonstrating how certification can conserve resources, preserve local communities and positively impact the bottom line for businesses – all at the same time," said Meredith Lopuch, deputy director of the WWF-US Fisheries Program’s Major Buyer Initiative.
The Government of Viet Nam and the MSC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in May 2005 declaring their joint commitment to encourage sustainable fishing in the country by promoting and facilitating MSC certification. The initial agreement was for three years and was renewed in 2008.