1. Ecology, and socio-economic conditions of the sites proposed for selection in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam Sinh, L.X.; Long, N.T. & Van, M. V. College of Aquaculture & Fisheries, Cantho University, Vietnam 6 March, 2006 CAN THO UNIVERSITY

2. Dr Sinh & Mr Van In the meeting with the People committee Council of Dong Hai district-Bac Lieu province. Dr Sinh In the meeting with Officers of the Division of Natural Aquatic Resources Protection in Tran De Fishing Port- Long Phu district of Soc Trang province.

3. (Mekong Source, 2003) The map of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam (Yamashita, 2003) Dong Hai Long Phu Ba Tri Proposed site

4. (Statistics Yearbook of the Mekong Delta, 2005) (Cantho University, 2004)

7. The map of Bac Lieu province Proposed site

8. 20002001200220032004 1. Population (pers.)125929127798129655131583 + Rural (pers.)113411115089116769118595 + Khmer (%)2.76 2. Total area (ha)539.2668 3. Rice cultivation (ha)4532.0236691965992 4. Paddy production (tons)17554.511534179204363 5. Aquaculture area (ha)34563390663976637721 6. Aquaculture production (tons)13307195742507927361 7. Capture production (tons)30343420653926442343 8. Total aquatic production (tons)43650616396434369704 9. Forest area (ha)2771.0 Major secondary data of Dong Hai district – Bac Lieu province

9. Ganh Hao fishing port Dong Hai district – Bac Lieu province -Thin protected mangrove area (eroded coast) -Aquaculture is important -Wild source of blood cockle -Both near-shore & off-shore fishing -Ethnic interest (Khmer people) -About 170 km from Cantho Univ., easy to travel -Good support from the local government

10. The map of Soc Trang province Proposed site

11. Major secondary data of Long Phu district – Soc Trang province (red color is used for the data before the separation of former district) 20002001200220032004 1. Population (pers.)232976177257179218181748183708 + Rural (%) + Khmer (%)33.3 2. Total area (ha)44156.444155.1 3. Rice cultivation (ha)5228453005568366165851055 4. Paddy production (tons)265795270219295846298376255256 5. Aquaculture area (ha)37265269474157944890 6. Aquaculture production (tons)3263123871465318598 7. Capture production (tons)13049360652836622 8. Total aquatic production (tons)16312159931993625220 9. Forest area (ha)765.0611.6764.6765.2441.2

12. Tran De fishing port Long Phu district – Soc Trang province Estuary & coastal ecosystem Thin protected mangrove area Wild seed of clam, blood cockle, fishes Both near-shore & off-shore fishing Ethnic interest (Khmer people) About 90 km from Cantho University, easy to travel Good support from the local government

13. The map of Ben Tre province Proposed site

14. 20002001200220032004 1. Population (pers.)196643198828201342203434203480 + Rural (pers.)184918187159190458192484192445 + Khmer (%)0.0 2. Total area (ha)35541.7 35540.635542.5 3. Rice cultivation (ha)3558336826.71380763793937562.5 4. Paddy production (tons)140727153484.5158912.6162293164682 5. Aquaculture area (ha)35153941429037895305 6. Aquaculture production (tons)3352035812353803024939640 7. Capture production (tons)2263624320275112325334100 8. Total aquatic production (tons)5615660132628915350173740 9. Forest area (ha)992 900902 Major secondary data of Ba Tri district – Ben Tre province

15. Ba Tri fishing port Ba Tri district – Ben Tre province Estuary and coastal ecosystem Thin mangrove area, but not protected Wild seed of clam, blood cockle, fishes Both near-shore & off-shore fishing About 150 km from Cantho University Has to pass 2 ferries, difficult to reach

16. Natural Marine Aquatic Resources of the Eastern Sea in the South of Vietnam Marine fish resource661 species; 319 genus; 138 families Crustacean resource225 species; 68 genus; 21 families Cephalopoda40 species Cuttle-fish23 species Phytoplankton260 species Zooplankton229 species Coral 49 species Mangrove forest69 species (Ministry of Fisheries, 1996)

17. ItemBiomass Phytoplankton827 x 10 3 cells/m 3 Zooplankton22mg/m 3 Benthos8.5 g/m 2 (Minister of Fisheries, 1996) Marine fishstock of Eastern-South region of Vietnam GroupFish stock (tons) Potential for capture (tons) Pelagic fish524.000209.600 Demersal fish698.307279.323 (Bui Dinh Chung, 1994) Plankton & benthos density of Eastern-South region of Vietnam

18. CONCLUSIONS For the site selection: Ranking priority is: 1- Dong Hai district – Bac Lieu province 2- Long Phu district – Soc Trang province 3- Ba Tri district – Ben Tre province For the next activities: Need to have the agreement between the member countries on the methodology for each components. For the cooperation among the members: Email contact between the coordinator of each component and his/her assistant/partner in each member country should be more frequent.