Received: Aug 21, 2025 / Accepted: Dec 12, 2025 / Published: Dec 31, 2025
This study analyzes the role of the Giao Hai fish market (Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province) in organizing and sustaining coastal community livelihoods. By integrating perspectives from small-scale fisheries, trader–fisher relations, gender analysis, and local ecological knowledge, the research is based on 27 in-depth interviews and participant observation conducted between March and June 2025. The findings reveal that the Giao Hai fish market functions as a strategic hub linking harvesting, trading, and processing, largely governed by informal institutions and community social capital. Relations between traders and fishers simultaneously provide essential financial and logistical resources but simultaneously create asymmetric dependencies. The gendered division of labor ensures the continuity of the supply chain but also reproduces inequalities in economic power. Current challenges include declining fishery resources, price volatility, competition from non-local traders, and limited cold storage infrastructure. The study recommends a combination of socio-economic measures and resource management strategies to secure sustainable livelihoods while protecting and restoring marine resources.
