Shrimp aquaculture is one of the major economic activities in coastal areas of Vietnam.

However, the relation between shrimp aquaculture and coastal environmental and social

issues are not well documented in the Tam Giang lagoon. This thesis focused on the

environmental and social implications of shrimp aquaculture in three coastal shrimp

farming communes: Phu An, Phu Da and Vinh Ha in Phu Vang district. The links

between the impacts of shrimp farming and policies, institutions and farming practices

were investigated. Attention was paid to both negative and positive impacts of shrimp

farming. Local people's perceptions of these factors were investigated using a

participatory approach. We found that people perceived that waste discharges, fishery

reduction, habitat destruction and salinisation of soil to be the foremost environmental

impacts of shrimp farming. Meanwhile, conflicts among shrimp farmers, traders, fishers

and rice-farmers are important social impacts. In addition, debt burden, migration of

women and conflicts of interests among resource users and sectors and local government

were also considered to be critical issues. However, shrimp farming also significantly

contributes to income generation, employment creation and livelihood diversification in

coastal poor communities. The sector contributed to changing the livelihoods of local

people from subsistence and small-commodity production into commercial production,

that in the long run are important for local communities in the context of trade

liberalization and globalisation. The environmental and social impacts of shrimp farming

are strongly linked to economic reforms, aquaculture promotion policies and the

management of local government and local farming practices. We highlighted the need to

internalise the externalities of shrimp farming sector. We recommend the introduction of

environmentally friendly aquaculture within the framework of community-based and

integrated coastal area management. We also recommend the necessity of adjustment of

institutional frameworks to enhance environmental protection and improve the feasibility

of aquaculture planning and building capacity for local authorities and lagoon resource

users