The marine aquaculture area and output increased by 20 percent every year since 2010 to 258,000ha and 431,600 tonnes last year.
The most popular species are fish, bivalve molluscs and crustacean species besides seaweed.
Marine aquaculture has developed rapidly in the northern province of Quang Ninh, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang and some central provinces.
Kien Giang has 3,000 floating cages at sea to breed marine fish, mostly grouper and cobia.
In Khanh Hoa, a marine aquaculture hub in the south-central region, farmers breed mostly lobster, cobia, yellow pomfret, and snapper.
The central region from Binh Dinh to Ninh Thuan provinces accounts for half of the country’s lobster breeding area with 2.7 million cubic metres of cages and has an annual output of 1,500 tonnes.
Speaking at a recent seminar in Khanh Hoa, Tran Cong Khoi, deputy head of the directorate’s aquaculture department, said the country depended on wild and imported lobster fry. It imported around 5 million fries a year, he said.
The country still lacks zoning and advanced farming techniques, resulting in low efficiency and environmental pollution, according to Khoi.
With more than 3,200 km of coastline and more than 3,000 islands, the country has around 500,000ha of ocean surface with potential for aquaculture, according to the Directorate of Fisheries.
The country has 20 million people living in coastal areas and islands.
The alluvial grounds of estuaries in the Mekong and Red River deltas have the water salinity and food resources required for farming bivalve molluscs.
To sustainably develop aquaculture, many localities have adopted advanced techniques using Norwegian technologies.
Tran Huu The, deputy chairman of the Phu Yen provincial People’s Committee, said the Norwegian technologies helped curb environmental problems related to coastal aquaculture.
One of them, used on farms on land, works by not releasing wastewater into the environment.
Another, which involves farming fish far away from the shore at sea, ensures the safety and cleanliness of the water.
Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa are the two largest lobster producers in the central region.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said the Government had rolled out a number of policies and programmes to promote marine aquaculture.
Infrastructure for aquatic species seed breeding, concentrated marine aquaculture and supporting and processing industries for marine species had been created, he said.
But coastal aquaculture is still in a fledgeling phase, according to the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 1.
Marine aquaculture is small in scale and lacks infrastructure, and faces many challenges related to seeds, feed, diseases, and pollution.
Most marine aquaculture farms are close to shore and face problems like pollution.
There are a few companies that farm fish at seas on an industrial scale. Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces, for instance, have one such company each focused on exports.
In July this year Kien Giang province gave approval to Mavin Group to invest in a 2,000ha export-focused farm off the coast of Kiên Hải District.
The 30 million USD project is scheduled to begin operating in 2021, producing 30,000 tonnes of fish a year.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has drafted a sustainable marine aquaculture strategy for the period up to 2030 and submitted to the Government for approval.
It targets having 270,000ha of marine farms, including 6,000ha offshore, by next year and an annual output of 710,000 tonnes.
By 2030 it aims to expand to 300,000ha, 30,000ha and 1.75 million tonnes. By then exports will be worth 4 - 6 billion USD.
Tien said the country would shift from traditional farming to an industrial scale and adopt advanced techniques.
It would promote sustainable aquaculture and fishing and adopting advanced techniques in breeding, fishing, preserving, and processing seafood to produce high-value products, he said.
It would focus on green technologies to develop all areas of marine aquaculture like breeding, fish health, feed, farming techniques, and post-harvest handling and processing, the official added.
VNS/VNP
