Lack of planning for aquaculture area in Quang Ninh province

Restoring order in local aquaculture

Quang Ninh province, boasting a 250-kilometer coastline, 50,000 hectares of sea surface, tidal flats, and over 2,000 islands, stands out as a key shrimp production and aquaculture region. The province features an environment with suitable depth for diverse marine organisms, numerous sheltered areas, slow water currents, and minimal impact from storms. Furthermore, the province is located away from oil pollution sources, industrial waste, and domestic wastewater.

Moreover, Quang Ninh province enjoys favorable conditions for the consumption of shrimp and aquaculture products with its trading gates connected to China, seaports, and ASEAN gateways. As a result, local aquaculture has been considered as a spearhead industry, propelling the economic development of the province.

Despite the potential and advantages for developing aquaculture and mariculture, unauthorized farming activities are prevalent in the province. Accordingly, several households within the province deploy unauthorized aquaculture cages, causing environmental pollution as well as hindering the safety of waterway traffic.

In response to this challenge, Quang Ninh province has mobilized local forces in coastal areas from Quang Yen town to Mong Cai city since the beginning of 2023 to address, penalize, and dismantle unauthorized aquaculture operations.

Notably, the local government of Cam Pha city in Quang Ninh province have relocated and reorganized aquaculture cages at nine different locations at sea to an authorized concentrated aquaculture area as outlined under Decision No. 156 issued by the Provincial People's Committee on January 17, 2023. To date, the relocation and reorganization process for aquaculture cages within Cam Pha city have been successfully completed.

Additionally, Cam Pha city has instructed wards and communes to disseminate information to households engaged in aquaculture with regards to the relocation and dismantling of unauthorized aquaculture structures. The goal is to minimize damage to households, and encourage farmers to harvest aquaculture products which have reached marketable sizes and adhere to the relocation schedule.

After one month of drastic actions against unauthorized aquaculture activities, the city has completed the dismantling and relocation of all 77 violating households, involving 4,700 buoy lines and nearly 2,500 bamboo rafts.

In addition to areas with successfully handled cases of unauthorized aquaculture activities, many households within the province still fail to comply with regulations. Namely, an inspection conducted in the southwest area of Tuan Chau island and the border area between Ha Long city and Quang Yen town in Ha Long Bay revealed 56 cases of unauthorized aquaculture activities, covering an approximate area of 212 hectares. The majority of violating households utilize foam buoys and bamboo rafts for aquaculture, significantly impacting the landscape, environment, and safety of waterway traffic.

The Ha Long City People's Committee had previously established administrative violation records against multiple households engaged in unauthorized aquaculture activities in Ha Long Bay. Consequently, the households were instructed to relocate and dismantle their facilities. However, a considerable number of these households refused to comply and continued with their unauthorized aquaculture activities.

In response to these challenges, the Ha Long City People's Committee has instructed relevant departments, committees, and local governments to develop plans and solutions, promptly organizing enforcement measures against unauthorized aquaculture households to protect the marine environment and facilitate conservation and tourism development in Ha Long Bay.

Lack of planning for aquaculture area

According to Mr. Do Dinh Minh, Director of Quang Ninh province's Department of Fisheries, a production unit code is the final step in completing procedures for mariculture. To be qualified for a production unit code, farmers must fulfill various requirements including: the possession of designated water areas, submission of a formal application, and a comprehensive water area diagram.

"Additionally, they must also provide a locally approved map for a project, or diagram for an initiative, of the water surface. At present, certain local governments have constructed projects in combination with maps, such as Cam Pha, Van Don, Quang Yen. Detailed maps depicting plots and coordinates are provided to local residents. On the other hand, the governments of Dam Ha, Hai Ha, Tien Yen have relatively lacking accompanying diagrams. The governments of Mong Cai, Ha Long, Co To have not established diagrams for their aquaculture areas. As a result, the district's government has not approved their planning for aquaculture areas," stated Mr. Minh.

The local government of Cam Pha city is currently developing a coastal aquaculture area covering  2,400 hectares. However, the development plan for mariculture in Cam Pha City has not been approved due to a lack of detailed planning, including information regarding environmental impact factors and suitability of each mariculture area.

Quang Ninh province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development held a meeting with Cam Pha City People's Committee on September 12, 2023 to review the documents related to the local development plan for mariculture. However, Cam Pha city has failed to submit revised documents after the review, citing a lack of funding to pay the consulting firm responsible for developing the plan.

In correspondence with a reporter from Vietnam Agriculture newspaper, Mr. Hoang Van Cuong, Deputy Head of Cam Pha city's Department of Economics, stated that the department has prepared a plan for the development of mariculture until 2030, with a vision towards 2045. The plan includes hiring a consulting firm for the detailed planning. "However, funding for the consulting firm has not been approved," shared Mr. Cuong.

In pursuant to Decision No. 80/QD-TTg issued by the Prime Minister on February 11, 2023, approving the Quang Ninh provincial planning from 2021 to 2030, with a vision towards 2050, the Hai Ha District People's Committee has collaborated with the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to integrate the local planning for mariculture into the provincial planning. The proposed mariculture area covers 2,570 hectares, divided into six areas for mollusk farming and cage mariculture.

The Hai Ha District People's Committee has submitted Document No. 1772/UBND-NNPTNT dated August 8, 2023, requesting the appraisal of the local mariculture area diagram (accompanied by a map detailing the location of the mariculture area). Subsequently, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Document No. 4791/SNNPTNT-CCTS on October 13, 2023, urging the completion of the documentation on the use of mariculture area to allocate the water surface areas to respective local governments, including Hai Ha district.

However, the Hai Ha District People's Committee encountered numerous difficulties during the implementation process due to a lack of legal basis, such as decrees or circulars, regulating and guiding the funding for consulting firms in the development of mariculture planning. Additionally, the allocation of fundings for the implementation process poses another challenge for the district.

According to Mr. Do Dinh Minh, in response to the challenges faced by Hai Ha district, the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Document No. 5359 on November 13, requesting the Hai Ha District People's Committee to study and refer to financial norms as per Document No. 4479/STC-QLNS issued by the Department of Finance on August 29, 2023.

Accordingly, the financial payment standards for laborers involved in the project are based on Circular No. 55/2015/TT-BTC-BKHCN issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology on April 22, 2015, guiding the determination of construction norms, budget allocation, and settlement of financial issues related to science and technology tasks using the central budget; Decision No. 2107/QD-UBND issued by Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee on July 8, 2016, on regulations for determining construction norms, budget allocation, and settlement of financial issues related to science and technology tasks using the central budget in Quang Ninh Province.

"Quang Ninh province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Department of Fisheries regularly urge coastal local governments to promptly finalize their development planning for local aquaculture areas. However, the implementation progress is very slow," noted Mr. Minh.

Out of a total of 135 farms with a total area of 35.8 hectares in Mong Cai city, only 2 farms have been licensed, whereas the remaining 133 are unlicensed (including 112 farms within the local planning and 21 farms outside the local planning. To date, the city has not discovered new unauthorized farming households. The city has imposed penalties on 15 cases of farms complying to the planning with no assigned aquaculture area.

Out of 400 farms with a total area of 810 hectares in Hai Ha district, 355 farms have been licensed, and 45 farms are unlicensed (including 22 farms within the local planning and 23 farms outside the  local planning. The district has handled administrative violations in 14 cases.