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

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 ov...

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Main Authors: Ty Pham Huu, Marçon Raphaël, Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa, Phuong Le Thi Hong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2022-03-01
Series:Environmental & Socio-economic Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2022-0001
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author Ty Pham Huu
Marçon Raphaël
Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa
Phuong Le Thi Hong
author_facet Ty Pham Huu
Marçon Raphaël
Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa
Phuong Le Thi Hong
author_sort Ty Pham Huu
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj.art-c59246d0e5e944e0b0cc936a251f95592022-12-22T02:11:05ZengSciendoEnvironmental & Socio-economic Studies2354-00792022-03-0110111210.2478/environ-2022-0001The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communitiesTy Pham Huu0Marçon Raphaël1Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa2Phuong Le Thi Hong3Department of Science, International Cooperation and Library, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102 Phung Hung, Hue City, VietnamDepartment of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CBUtrecht, The NetherlandsDepartment of Geography, National Taiwan Normal University, 162, Section 1, Heping E. Rd., Taipei City 106, TaiwanDepartment of Science, International Cooperation and Library, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102 Phung Hung, Hue City, VietnamIn 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.https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2022-0001small-scale fishery communitiessubjective resilience capacitiesmanmade environmental disasterscentral vietnamlivelihood strategies
spellingShingle Ty Pham Huu
Marçon Raphaël
Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa
Phuong Le Thi Hong
The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities
Environmental & Socio-economic Studies
small-scale fishery communities
subjective resilience capacities
manmade environmental disasters
central vietnam
livelihood strategies
title The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities
title_full The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities
title_fullStr The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities
title_full_unstemmed The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities
title_short The 2016 Vietnam marine life incident: measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small-fishery communities
title_sort 2016 vietnam marine life incident measures of subjective resilience and livelihood implications for affected small fishery communities
topic small-scale fishery communities
subjective resilience capacities
manmade environmental disasters
central vietnam
livelihood strategies
url https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2022-0001
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