International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture

Aquaculture and fisheries have provided food for billions of people over the history of humanity. Over the past decades however the sector has been experiencing significant challenges. Declining fish stocks and resources have hindered capture fisheries and aquaculture, e.g. through increasing production prices. The environmental and social impacts of some parts of the sector became significant, especially during farm siting (land conversation, conflicts) and operation (pollution). Aquatic animal diseases and food safety concerns also became increasingly challenges for the sector, affecting both the quantity and quality of production.

Significant progress has been made worldwide to address the above issues. Vietnam has been arguably at the forefront of many sustainability efforts. Although there are still considerable challenges affecting the Vietnamese fisheries sector, there is also a huge body of expertise available, to learn from and to be built on.

The Vietnam Fisheries Society (VINAFIS) promptly recognized the challenges and opportunities and in March 2010 established the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) a non-profit organisation with the mandate of:

• strengthening VINAFIS
• providing advise on sustainability issues to private and public sector organizations and individuals, both in Vietnam and internationally
• developing and implementing programs and projects towards branding, certification and traceability of aquatic products
• developing international cooperation programs and projects, especially with developing countries in Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America
• developing and implementing research projects on aquaculture and fisheries sustainability
• building and strengthen networks of organisations, projects, producers, etc.

Sustainability can be defined in thousands of different ways. We, at ICAFIS conduct activities to ensure quantity and quality of production for the years to come.

Download ICAFIS' Charter in Vietnamese or English

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