1 ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF OFFSHORE FISHERIES – THE CASE OF TRAWLING AND PURSE SEINING IN BEN TRE PROVINCE, VIETNAM

Ben Tre, located on the Tien Delta Triangle--with a coastline of 65 km and the 20,000 km2 Exclusive Economic Zone--is one of the Mekong Delta’s 13 provinces. Given both its vast access to coastline and the EEZ, fisheries is one of the Ben Tre’s key economic sectors. This study specifies some factors affecting revenues of trawling and light purse seining vessels by using a multivariate regression model. Data was collected through direct and intensive interviews with vessel owners and fishermen. The results seem to demonstrate that single boat trawlers achieved the highest return on investment, followed by pairtrawlers and light purse seiners, respectively. Factors including the vessel length, engine capacity, captain’s experience, fishing gears, and vessel age have considerable effects on revenues of single-boat trawlers and lighted purse seiners. Based on these findings, this study provides some recommendations to offshore fisheries in Ben Tre province, Vietnam