The study was conducted to understand the efficiencies of fish sauce production in Thua Thien Hue coastal areasin order to identify relevant solutions to maintaining and developing this traditionalliv~lihood activity. Data analysed in this study was collected from household surveys and in-depth interviews. All 97 fish-sauceprocessing house holds in the researcharea were interviewed with a focus on processing techniques, marketing activities and costs and benefits of processing fish sauces. In-depth intervIews were also conducted with 8 fish sauce shops, 10 fish sauce retail households and 4 village heads ontheir links with producers. Results showed that there were two kinds of fish sauce produced, including type 'I which is first extracted from a mixture of materials, primarilyfish and salt and fermented for around 7- 12 months and type II which is extracted second time from the residue ofthe first extraction. Type I brought about 1.8 times higher economic efficiency (GO / IC) than that of type II. The market chain of fish sauce in thestudy areas included threegroups of actors, who were from producer households
dealers, wholesalers, retailers
consumers, shops, hotels and restaurants. About 53 percent of the fish sauce in the study areas were sold to consumers of free markets. Fish sauce producers gained the lowest benefits in comparison to other actors in the chain. In order to improve efficiency of fish sauce production at the study area there should be mechanism tofaciltate linkages among producers and to promote marketing strategies to improve the competiveness of the local fish sauce on the market.