There is more than 400ha of shrimp farms that use technological advances in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. (Photo: www.vista.gov.vn) Ba Ria – Vung Tau (VNA) – The southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau is carrying out severalpolicies and applying technological advances into production to develop aquaculturesustainably.
Nguyen Huu Thi, deputy head of the Fisheries Sub-Department under theprovincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the provincialPeople’s Committee has issued a number of documents aimed at expanding aquaculture and reducing the aquatic exploitation at sea.
It is adjusting the fishery development planning scheme towards tightening themanagement and licensing of marine aquaculture, he said, adding that breedersare encouraged to use environmental-friendly materials and apply hightechnologies to enhance products’ value, serving exports targets.
“On April 1 every year, the sub-department releases fries and shrimps tohelp restore aquatic product resources and increase the number of species that havebeen over-exploited, thereby, creating an ecological balance,” Thi told the VietnamNews Agency.
With about 6,300ha of aquaculture, the province has launched a movementcalling on people to take part in environmental protection including reducingplastic waste in aquaculture. Farmers are instructed to use new technologies in their production.
Phan Hoang Son, a farmer in Vung Tau city’s Long Son commune, said he has usedhigh-density polyethylene (HDPE) floating cages and nets with anti-foulingcoatings based on Norwegian technology to breed marine fish for several years.
The advantage of this technology is that cages made of HDPE plastic are highlyresistant to chemicals and does not rust. In addition, it is easy to shape andnot broken when encountering rough terrain, he said.
The cages can be placed in the sea far from the shore and with clean water, whichprevents pollution and diseases, Son said, adding that their efficiency is 20percent higher than traditional cages.
A fish caged farming model. (Photo: VNA) Industrial shrimp farming models have also expanded in the province. Thereis more than 400ha of shrimp farms that use advanced techniques andsuper-intensive farming methods. The model has a success rate of 90 percent andbrought in higher efficiency than traditional methods.
Bui The Vuong, a resident in Long Dien district’s An Ngai commune, said he has7ha of shrimp farming. He uses 1.5ha to farm and the rest to filter and treat wastewater.
Thanks to the application of high technology, he can harvest three to fiveshrimp crops a year, twice the number possible using traditional methods, hesaid.
The death rate of shrimp is lower and disease is minimised at the same time,Vuong said.
The area of aquaculture applying good agricultural practices has been graduallyincreased to 4.9 percent last year from 4.2 percent in 2020. The agriculture sector has set the goal of raising the rate to 5.5 percent this year.
In addition to developing sustainable aquaculture, the sector also focuses onguiding fishermen to exploit aquatic products in a sustainable way.Accordingly, attention will be paid to rearranging vessels towards reducingtheir number or granting licenses in line with the assigned quotas.
The agriculture sector is coordinating with relevant agencies to carry outmany solutions to regenerate aquatic product resources and disseminate information toraise awareness and responsibility of local residents in protecting theresources.
It also encourages fishermen to upgrade and convert fishing boats with large capacityto exploit offshore fishing grounds as well as seek other resources to supportthe community in vocational training so that they can change jobs./.
