Khanh Hoa has large area of seawater that is very suitable for the development of high-tech marine farming, and is also home to many scientific and technological research facilities and logistics services serving marine farming, with favourable conditions for international cooperation in attracting technologies, capital sources and consumption markets for investment and development of marine farming.
According to Vice Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee Le Huu Hoang, the results of marine farming in Khanh Hoa are not commensurate with the potential. Currently, fishermen are mainly raising fish using traditional methods, with wooden cages that are unable to withstand strong waves and winds.
Therefore, encouraging and orienting fishermen to develop industrial marine farming, shifting from wooden cages to new material cages; the application of new farming technology and processes is a matter of concern in the South Central Coastal provinces. These localities are located in the area where the frequency of storms and tropical depressions is quite high, so the development of offshore marine farming requires a large investment, modern technology, and farming facilities that can withstand great waves.
Up to now, aquaculture households in Ly Son Island, Quang Ngai Province have shifted to intensive farming, raising the value of their products. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ly Son Island District Dang Tan Thanh shared that in order to promote aquaculture and exploit and use effectively coastal water areas, the district has approved the aquaculture development plan that consists of seven areas, with a total area of 50 hectares; and strive to reach over 100 billion VND by 2025, of which the value of lobster accounts for more than 90%.
In Khanh Hoa, industrial-oriented marine farming and high-tech application have only taken the first steps. However, according to the Director of the Khanh Hoa Fisheries Sub-Department Nguyen Trong Chanh, the activities of industrial-oriented marine farming businesses have brought high efficiency, especially for the farms of the High-Tech Marine Aquaculture Centre, the Aquaculture Research Institute I, or the farms of companies Australis and Phuong Minh, the model of goby fish farming with Norwegian HDPE round cages, and so on. It is worth noting that storm No.12 in 2017 completely destroyed the wooden cages of villagers, but the HDPE cages were not affected. This is a suitable model that should be encouraged to develop.
According to Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phu Yen Province Nguyen Trong Tung, the Department is building a master project for the development of the aquaculture sector in the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, with the goal of rearranging and restructuring the farming areas anddeveloping aquaculture in harmony with other economic sectors such as tourism and energy.
Many experts believe that, in order to develop sustainably marine farming, the southern central provinces need to synchronously apply policies such as: assigning the right to use the sea area to investors; supporting sustainable marine farming businesses; investing in essential infrastructure systems; supporting industry development; and human resource training.
When implementing marine farming projects, together with good marine breeders, enterprises should prioritise the application of high technology first of all, aiming to replace wooden and steel raft cages with HDPE cages, while at the same time using industrial food instead of fresh food in order to reduce costs and limit negative impacts on the environment.
Secretary of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Hai Ninh shared that in order to exploit the potential for the development of the aquaculture industry, it is necessary to establish a good orientation,otherwise the aquaculture space will conflict with the development space of other industries.
The province will study and promulgate mechanisms and policies and create a credit policy for people and businesses, as well as connect businesses with farmer to develops value-added chains, towards the target ofconverting 100% of wooden cages to HDPE plastic cages between now and 2030.
