Letter from Phu Quoc

I am writing from the Thien Hai Son resort in Duong Dong town on Phu Quoc. The resort sits on Long Beach on the western side of the island. Our host is Mr. Thi, a vice-director with the Ministry of Fisheries in Hanoi whom we met when we first arrived. He is here in Phu Quoc because creating an MPA here in the archipelago of small islands at the southern tip of Phu Quoc is a priority for his agency. Other members of the team here, besides Ed and me are Mr. Linh who works for Mr. Thi and Mr. Huong who is our interpreter and socioeconomic specialist. Mr. Thi has graciously taken us all around the island, brought us out to the proposed MPA site by boat, and provided for meals along the way.I had assumed this island, because it was remote and in the far south near Cambodia, would be less heavily utilized than the rest of the coast of Vietnam and that it would be a lush tropical setting. I was wrong on both accounts. The island is quite arid most of the year and has very poor soil for growing crops. About 80% of the island is a national park for forest protection and represents the largest forested area remaining in Vietnam. There are many large hardwood trees in the forest and a fairly dense canopy but I’d call it semi-tropical arid hardwood forest- not a rainforest at all. Apparently there are monkeys, wild boar and deer in the forest. I’ve also seen two sea eagles along the coast- a majestic eagle similar in size to our bald eagle that feeds on fish.Despite the fact that it is an offshore island, Phu Quoc is heavily fished by local boats and by boats from many other Vietnamese provinces. It’s quite astounding how many boats there are, how often they are fishing, and the fishing power that each one represents. They use fine mesh nets to catch whatever they can usually at night with the aid of 10 or more high intensity lights. Supposedly the intensity of the lights is regulated but it’s not enforced. The main fisheries are anchovy, used to make famous Phu Quoc fish sauce, squid, and bottom fish. Trawlers are prevalent and are wreaking havoc on the bottom habitat according to local fishermen. The anchovy resource is extremely important and is apparently sustained by upwelling events in the southern island archipelago. Nuoc mam or fish sauce is Phu Quoc’s claim to fame. This fish sauce is revered throughout Vietnam and beyond for its purity and flavor- it’s unlike any other in the world. It’s made by dumping some anchovies in a huge vat, mixing them with salt and letting them rot and ferment for several months to years and then pouring off the refined fish oil product from the bottom of the vat. It’s served as a dipping sauce in a small side dish with many entrees in Vietnam.Today we met with the vice chairman of the Provincial People’s Party as well as several vice directors of the Department of Fisheries (DOFI). We learned that the plan is to make an MPA in the southern archipelago and to relocate hundreds of fishing families and boats to ports on the east and north coast of the island. The southern archipelago would then be available for development as an ecotourism area. It appears to be an incredibly ambitious plan but there does seem to be a plan in the works to carry it out. Time will tell.