VinaTuna was established in 2010 to represent the interests of Vietnam’s tuna fishers, traders and processors and to also help manage, maintain and develop the Vietnam tuna resource more sustainably and efficiently. The voluntary organisation is directly managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and other government bodies. In joining the IPNLF Member network, VinaTuna will help further safeguard the country’s traditional one-by-one fishing sector.
Mr Vu Dinh Dap, Chairman of VinaTuna, says, “Together with our members and other stakeholders, this organisation wants to build a positive future for Vietnam’s one-by-one sector and the many coastal communities that it supports. We are determined to strengthen these fisheries while also raising the profile of our country’s sustainable one-by-one tuna in international markets. Joining IPNLF’s Member network and working with it to achieve these goals is a significant move in the right direction, and we believe it will help generate additional value at many levels.”
Through its membership of IPNLF, VinaTuna joins a growing network of tuna supply chain stakeholders from all over the world that are supporting IPNLF’s work to enhance the supply of one-by-one caught tuna and strengthen the value that these fisheries bring to the coastal environments and communities connected to them.
Jeremy Crawford, Southeast Asia Director of IPNLF, comments, "We are very pleased to be welcoming VinaTuna and the one-by-one fishers that it represents into our Member network. This partnership is taking us into an important new region of the world; one that has long been famed for its tuna. Tuna is Vietnam’s most valuable fisheries resource and one of its leading seafood exports, with approximately 2,000 one-by-one vessels landing around 20,000 tonnes of tuna annually.”
Crawford continues: “Much of the country’s tuna sector continues to comprise small-scale fisheries with modest vessels deploying traditional one-by-one catching methods. Our crucial role moving forward is to help these fisheries protect their rich heritage.”
