Nguyen Bach Dang; Salim Momtaz
  Kenneth Zimmerman; Pham Thi Hong Nhung

Abstract
This paper examines the effectiveness of formal institutions in managing marine fisheries in Vietnam and various factors affecting the effectiveness. This study is based on data collected through a household survey, group discussions, and interviews. This study shows that the formal institutions including the government agencies and the legislative framework have not been effective in managing marine fisheries. The factors affecting the performance of the formal institutions include weak capacity of the government agencies, non-compliance of the fisheries regulations, and the policy failure. The government agencies are not rationally organized and facing shortage of work force, finance, and equipment. Non-compliance is due to enforcement problems, law incompatibility, input costs increase, and population growth. The policy failure is resulted from conflict between the development and conservation objectives and the top-down approach, which ignores the socio-economic context and natural conditions of the fishing community. Understanding how these factors influence the effectiveness of formal institutions are important in improving current fisheries management in Vietnam.

Keywords: Formal institutions, marine fisheries, sustainable fisheries development, and Vietnam.