The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities

Ty Pham Huu (), Marçon Raphaël, Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa and Phuong Le Thi Hong
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Ty Pham Huu: Department of Science, International Cooperation and Library, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102 Phung Hung, Hue City, Vietnam
Marçon Raphaël: Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa: Department of Geography, National Taiwan Normal University, 162, Section 1, Heping E. Rd., Taipei City 106, Taiwan
Phuong Le Thi Hong: Department of Science, International Cooperation and Library, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102 Phung Hung, Hue City, Vietnam

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, 2022, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: In April 2016, four provinces of Vietnam were struck by one of the largest manmade environmental incidents in Vietnam. Through a discharge of toxic chemicals by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, oceanic waters along Vietnam’s central coast were severely polluted. Consequently, the livelihoods of over 510,000 people living in coastal communities were severely affected by the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation incident (FHS incident). This study focusses on ex-ante and ex-post differences in livelihoods, and the subjective resilience of small-fishery households affected by the FHS incident in Hải Dương commune, a small coastal community, in central Vietnam. This was done through a qualitative analysis of livelihood strategies and resilience capacities of the affected households. Semi-structured interviews (n = 30), expert interviews (n = 3) and secondary data analysis were conducted from March to May 2018 employing a case study approach. Results show that the level of subjective resilience was strongly affected by a combination of social, financial, and human capitals. The presence, or lack, of these capitals combined with contextual factors influenced the livelihood strategies a household could pursue. Households that were able to pursue a combination of intensifying and diversifying livelihood strategies were most successful in recovering from and adjusting to the environmental incident. Households with restrained access to livelihood capitals were limited to intensifying livelihood strategies, having no real other option than persistence and increased dependence on government subsidies. Lastly, migration as a livelihood strategy and subsequent transformative resilience capacities remained generally low.

Keywords: small-scale fishery communities; subjective resilience capacities; manmade environmental disasters; Central Vietnam; livelihood strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:enviro:v:10:y:2022:i:1:p:1-12:n:4

DOI: 10.2478/environ-2022-0001

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