The use and sustainable development of marine animal drugs by the Kinh people in Beibu Gulf

Abstract

The Kinh people of China have historically migrated from Tushan and other areas of Vietnam since the 16th century. They are now settled in Fangchenggang City in the Beibu Gulf region of Guangxi, China. The local Kinh people have lived by fishing and have a rich fishing culture. Accordingly, the Kinh people of China have a long history of using traditional marine animal drugs for their daily medicinal needs. However, with the advent of modern medicine, there is a risk of losing the valuable traditional knowledge of marine animal drugs. Thus, this study aimed to document the types of marine animal drugs and related traditional knowledge of the Kinh people and explore the sustainability of their access to marine animal drugs. Ethnobiological methods, including snowball sampling and semi-structured interviews are used to collect information about the animal drugs used locally during the study. Through field investigations in the “Three Islands of Kinh,” we collected ethnozoological data on 61 marine animal drugs belonging to 52 families across six animal phyla. Chordata and Mollusca are the most represented phyla, while Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Sipuncula, and Cnidaria are less represented. According to the analysis, animal meat is the most frequent medicinal part; the Kinh prefer decoction or making soup, and internal administration is the most frequent use mode. Our statistical analysis revealed that nourishing was the most common purpose for the recorded marine animal drugs in the study area. Our study found that 6 documented species are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List but receive little targeted protection. The article provides recommendations for protecting traditional knowledge, promoting sustainable development of marine resources, and conserving endangered species.