Khanh Hoa pilots high-tech marine farming in the open sea area

"One small step to the big sea" 

Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh, Secretary of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, shared at the launching ceremony of the high-tech marine aquaculture pilot program in the open sea in Khanh Hoa province. The launching ceremony was organized by Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee in collaboration with Thien Tam Foundation - Vingroup Group at the aquaculture area of Cam Lap Ward, Cam Ranh City, on May 24.

According to the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Secretary, the launch of high-tech mariculture in the open sea is a step to concretize Resolution 09 of the Politburo on construction and development of Khanh Hoa province to 2030, with a vision to 2045, as well as Resolution No. 42/NQ-CP dated March 21, 2022, of the Government and Resolution 55 of the National Assembly on specific regimes for Khanh Hoa province, clearly stating the sustainable development of the marine economy. In marine economic growth, there is an orientation to develop high-tech marine farming. 

On the other hand, in the Resolutions of the Central Government, it is also evident that Khanh Hoa province is assigned to build a pilot project of high-tech marine aquaculture in the region. This project has been approved by the Standing Committee of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, and the Provincial People's Committee has sent to consult ministries and branches to prepare a report to submit to the Government for approval.

It is known that along with the development of the project, during the past year, Khanh Hoa province, together with the consulting unit of the Research Institute of Aquaculture III, have studied the models of cages according to high technology and modern farming methods for the immediate pilot.

"Today, we are very pleased to deploy pilot models and hope they will successfully bring practical effects to the people of marine aquaculture in the province. If successful, it will have great meaning to spread to the whole country", the Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee expressed and determined the further away from the sea, the greater the risks and challenges in aquaculture farming. But everything is just the beginning; the pilot may be successful or unsuccessful, but we need to do it to know when we will succeed. According to the Secretary Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, the province has completed the survey and built the planning of aquaculture areas in the high-tech marine aquaculture pilot project. When the project is approved, the region will re-plan the aquaculture area to bring people into this planned farming area. 

New technology application in marine farming

At the launching ceremony of the program, the Khanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the Thien Tam Fund, Cam Ranh City People's Committee officially launched and deployed the first HDPE cage farming model in the open sea in Cam Lap commune, Cam Ranh city.

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Hai Ninh and Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Tran Hoa Nam, together with leaders of departments and agencies, released lobsters and marine fish into modern HDPE cages of the first three pioneer farming households.

According to our observations, the HDPE cages are very sturdy, and the cage frames have been studied to be suitable for the open sea. In particular, the lobster cage is 4mx4m in size, raised on two floors into 12 boxes, reducing the farming area and increasing the efficiency per unit area.

With marine fish farming, they are stocked in round cages with a diameter of 10m and a volume of 800m3/cage. The boxes all have underwater surveillance cameras, marine navigation systems, and 24/7 remote monitoring on all electronic devices. The farming models are also equipped with automatic feeding machines, advancing to industrial farming.

Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee said that in the past time, most people have been doing aquaculture mainly along the coast in closed seas, using traditional farming methods, wooden and bamboo cages, using fresh food, the risk of environmental pollution is high, but the efficiency is not good. 

Moreover, the resistance of traditional wooden rafts to wind and storms is minimal. Meanwhile, the weather is becoming increasingly irregular, increasing when the storm enters the cage. It is easy to smash.

Many businesses in the province use aquaculture technology using HDPE cages, and it is stable and safe through big storms. Therefore, the locality is very confident in this cage farming technology. Currently, HDPE cage products are entirely manufactured by Vietnamese enterprises, not only applying foreign technology but also in line with our reality. 

With this pilot model, the Secretary added, it will gradually improve from cages to farming methods and methods to achieve the highest efficiency. If this can be done, the province will slowly take a step further, raising the sea beyond industrial-oriented marine farming, creating excellent efficiency, and truly becoming a primary economic sector of Vietnam. It is known that the pilot program of high-tech mariculture in the open sea in Khanh Hoa province will plan to support ten pioneering households to apply high technology to marine farming. Thien Tam Fund will financially support these households through reciprocal proportions suitable for model development.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh said after having Resolution 09 of the Politburo, Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee issued action plan No.30, which defines the goal by 2030 to convert all traditional cages to HDPE cages and reared in a more modern and sustainable way. However, to do this, it is necessary to be a pilot first so that people can see the benefits of conversion and mobilize them to go to the open sea to prove that the model is effective for people to replicate. 

On this occasion, we thank Thien Tam Fund for sponsoring Khanh Hoa province to build a high-tech pilot project and deploy this model. This sponsor is a significant action of Vingroup for the sustainable development of Khanh Hoa province. Besides Thien Tam Fund, scientists from the Aquaculture Research Institute III, a consulting unit, are experienced and capable of implementing the project. Provincial departments, fishermen, and local authorities have also made efforts to coordinate the implementation. However, for this pilot model to be successful and widely applied, we need to implement many more solutions, such as low-interest loans and insurance support, and continue to move towards the animal husbandry model. Industrial food does not pollute the environment.