Enormous offshore aquaculture cages await... policy support

The East Sea Jumping Squid Company has just introduced a colossal offshore cage: with a diameter of 61.5 meters, a circumference of 193 meters, covering an area of nearly 3,000m2, and a water storage capacity of 30,000m3. This marks the largest cage ever designed and built by Vietnamese individuals, serving as the cornerstone for realizing the dream of offshore aquaculture.

Open sea, open opportunities

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Ninh Thuan, one of 28 coastal provinces, stands out with its unique marine environment. Its open sea, devoid of mountainous cover or bays, distinguishes it from other regions.

This natural characteristic has shaped a distinctive fishing landscape in Ninh Thuan: fishing villages send fleets of ships far out to sea; sea farming settlements, if confined to coastal areas, remain small and fragmented, but venturing dozens of nautical miles into the open sea yields expansive and well-invested farming zones. Those who engage in offshore farming are bold individuals unafraid of confronting the elements.

Nguyen Ba Ngoc, owner of the East Sea Jumping Squid Company, exemplifies such courage.

"I prefer offshore aquaculture. Offshore areas offer vast, stable farming grounds without overlap with other projects or disruption to water traffic... Moreover, the offshore environment fosters superior conditions for enhancing seafood quality," Ngoc remarked.

In 2019, relocating from rural Ha Tinh, Nguyen Ba Ngoc brought the Vung Ang dancing squid brand, a cherished asset from his hometown, to embark on his entrepreneurial journey. He chose Ninh Thuan as his destination, selecting Ninh Hai Beach as the starting point for his offshore endeavors. His selected sea is expansive, characterized by abundant sunlight, wind, and waves. With water depths exceeding 100 meters, he can freely execute projects aimed at breeding squid, raising lobster, and more, albeit at a considerable distance from shore.

Enduring challenging voyages, the first leg involves navigating a coracle from the shore to the anchorage. Hien, an East Sea Jumping Squid Company worker, adeptly maneuvers the oar, gripping the wooden shaft firmly with both hands, deftly steering the coracle. The coracle glides across the water's surface, seemingly skimming along without the sensation of surfing. After skillfully navigating through the fishing nets of local fishermen and weaving through narrow gaps between wooden vessels anchored several kilometers offshore, the coracle, "powered by rice," finally docks with a waiting wooden ship.

Transitioning to a wooden vessel, our journey continues for approximately 30 minutes until we reach Nguyen Ba Ngoc's expansive floating squid raft area. It stands resolute amidst the vastness of the sea.

Compared to the tiny vessels dotting the horizon like grains of rice, Nguyen Ba Ngoc's squid cage resembles a colossal peanut—towering over the surrounding ships by many orders of magnitude.

"With up to three thousand square meters of water surface area that can be accommodated within a single cage, no cage of this scale exists elsewhere in Vietnam. Offshore farming demands such large cage sizes to withstand the relentless onslaught of strong waves and wind, ensuring the safety of both the structure and its inhabitants," Ngoc elucidated, as he shared a video capturing the monumental task of channeling a rock, weighing over 5 tons, from the shore to the periphery of the floating cage area, spanning a distance of about 6 kilometers, to fashion an anchor capable of tethering the colossal cage securely.

In the footage, a substantial rock hangs suspended from a floating raft constructed from sealed plastic barrels, buoyed by trapped air within, transforming them into floating buoys. Water currents propel the contraption, while the wooden vessel we occupied tows the "plastic raft," with the massive 5-ton boulder nestled beneath, out into the expanse of the sea.

"In times of adversity, wisdom must prevail," Ngoc asserted. Like the colossal cage, the world's largest, fashioned from HDPE material, designed, and built by the East Sea Jumping Squid Company, it is a testament to marine farming innovation.

On February 27, the East Sea Jumping Squid Company unveiled Vietnam's largest marine cage. This cage boasts a diameter of 61.5 meters, a circumference of 193 meters, covering an area of 3,000m2, with a water storage capacity of 30,000m3. Nguyen Ba Ngoc spearheaded the design and construction of this project, dedicating nearly 2 months to its realization.

"In the realm of marine farming technology, Norway leads the way. This nation boasts farming cages with diameters ranging from 55 to 56 meters, with production costs soaring to several hundred thousand USD per cage. Only such sizable cages can sustain offshore farming operations. The cages crafted by the East Sea Jumping Squid Company are domestically designed and built, costing merely half the price of foreign-made alternatives," Nguyen Ba Ngoc disclosed.

This cage has attracted numerous international delegations eager to glean insights and inspiration from its design. "They were astounded. They couldn't fathom that we could independently conceive and construct such immense cages. And, I am more than willing to share our knowledge with them," Ngoc expressed.

The dream of a marine "industrial infrastructure" awaits key policy support

Born in 1988, Nguyen Ba Ngoc is a young man brimming with ambition and aspirations. His unwavering determination is palpable through his gaze on the sea and the projects he has completed and embarked upon. It transcends mere ideas—it embodies the pursuit of a dream.

"Presently, East Sea Jumping Squid (a company owned by Nguyen Ba Ngoc) has completed 4 large-sized cages, with one floating cage launched in early 2024, and the remaining 3 cages stationed ashore, awaiting deployment upon delivery to the water. Ngoc shared his plans for the near future, stating, "Next August, we will construct an HDPE floating cage with a diameter of 150 meters, which will stand as the world's largest floating cage produced by Vietnamese hands."

Over the past 4 years, Nguyen Ba Ngoc has diligently laid the groundwork for his offshore expansion plan, starting with the construction and installation of cages. Devoting all his time, enthusiasm, finances, and youth to his dream of unlocking the potential of the sea.

"I envision establishing an open sea farming space in the truest sense: we'll develop the infrastructure and cages. If anyone requires sea farming facilities, we'll offer rentals and facilitate purchases, including providing support for experience, breeding, and livestock while ensuring the safety of the cages against winds and storms. However, the rental fees will be minimal compared to the investment required to build cages."

Nguyen Ba Ngoc's visionary approach aligns with the development trajectory outlined for Ninh Thuan province's fisheries industry from 2021 to 2030, with a vision extending to 2050. Under this local aquaculture development initiative and regulatory framework recently endorsed by the Prime Minister, Ninh Thuan aims to establish "sea farming industrial parks" at sea, with multifaceted objectives: ensuring organized and stable farming areas, promoting sustainable development and environmental preservation, efficiently utilizing water surface areas, promoting the adoption of economically valuable species, incorporating high-tech marine farming techniques, and positioning Ninh Thuan as the nation's premier hub for aquatic breeds, thereby eradicating the haphazard, fragmented, and unplanned farming practices.

"Chairman of Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee, Tran Quoc Nam, openly expressed his admiration for Nguyen Ba Ngoc, stating, "Ngoc is an individual of remarkable ambition, profound aspirations, and unwavering honesty. Ninh Thuan requires trailblazers like Nguyen Ba Ngoc, along with sizable investors possessing the requisite potential, capacity, aspiration, and intellect to foster the development of the offshore aquaculture economy."

Nonetheless, like numerous other regions nationwide, Ninh Thuan eagerly anticipates changes and clear directives regarding policies and legal frameworks governing the allocation of water surfaces to marine farming entities. Present regulations stipulate that acquiring a marine farming license necessitates approval from several pertinent ministries. Moreover, conflicts and overlaps arise with various sectors such as tourism, marine traffic, fishing, aquaculture, and maritime exploitation.

"The cages are constructed but remain stranded on the shore due to the delayed delivery of water surfaces. We propose the allocation of 100 hectares of sea surface in Ninh Hai district, where we intend to deploy cage farming systematically. However, we are presently in a state of waiting," remarked Nguyen Ba Ngoc.

"Marine farming in the open ocean poses significant challenges, including the risks of natural disasters such as big waves and strong winds. We can surmount these obstacles with robust infrastructure. However, the most formidable challenges and barriers lie onshore, stemming from unsynchronized mechanisms and laws, the absence of a water surface delivery mechanism, and the need for the sea delivery authority to seek input from numerous ministries and branches, thereby prolonging procedural delays," Ngoc continued.

Nguyen Ba Ngoc further analyzed, "The primary impediment to marine farming policy lies in the legal hindrance to accessing funding for water surface areas. The decentralization of sea delivery authority to either the central or local levels based on size, area, and sea jurisdiction is necessary. Another challenge arises from the absence of a competent authority to evaluate or register marine farming infrastructure. Large-scale cage investments require substantial funds, yet no provisions enable them to be leveraged as collateral assets to secure capital for investment, thereby hindering production. Investing in marine farming entails significant financial risks and uncertainties."

"Pioneers of marine farming hope to receive governmental support through favorable mechanisms, policies, incentives, and subsidies. Onshore, policies promoting land reclamation and the development of new economies enjoy ample incentives, with the state offering financial assistance, production materials, and initial accommodations for those undertaking land reclamation. As marine reclamation pioneers, we anticipate similar incentives from the state and government to bolster our potential for continued investment in marine farming," shared Nguyen Ba Ngoc, owner of the East Sea Jumping Squid Company.