primary management team

Da Nang is urbanising rapidly, and along with the overall improvements that economic growth has brought into its residents’ lives, it has sharpened inequalities. The city’s coast has been occupied by quiet clusters of fishing villages for hundreds of years, yet pressure for services and tourism development has pushed these villages further from the sea. In addition, measures for the modernisation of the fishing sector have restricted near-shore fishing, devastating the livelihoods of many of the remaining fisher households. These transformations have disrupted the social networks of the fishing communities, impacted their access to land, housing, and, not least, the sea, and threatened the preservation of significant cultural, social, material, and natural assets. Against this backdrop, this research aims to document the tangible and intangible heritages of the fishing villages and consolidate an archive of their integral role in Da Nang’s development. Drawing from the experience of a regional network that has been engaging in community-based tourism, the research explores possibilities for Da Nang’s communities to get involved in similar activities that would secure them a better livelihood while preserving and celebrating their heritage, culture, and resources.