People in Sia town (Quang Dien) take care of farmed aquatic products.

Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon area once raised many types of aquatic products, especially specialized farming of giant tiger prawns, bringing high economic efficiency. Many people used to know that the coastal area of ​​Quang Dien lagoon was the place where the giant tiger prawn farming movement started in the province. After only a few farming seasons, many households in Quang Cong, Quang An, Quang Thanh... became rich. Since then, the giant tiger prawn farming movement has spread throughout the Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon area.

Since the movement of raising black tiger shrimp developed massively, spontaneously, without planning, combined with climate change, the lagoon environment was destroyed, polluted, and shrimp were often sick and died, causing many households to suffer continuous losses. That forced localities and people to change their production thinking, convert and diversify suitable farming objects to cope with erratic weather.

Lagoon specialty fish

The model of intercropping tiger shrimp with crab and fish has since emerged, showing its suitability and adaptability to the current lagoon environmental conditions. Although intercropping aquaculture does not bring in high income compared to shrimp farming (when it is still effective), each hectare brings in an average income of over 100 million VND, helping the lagoon people develop a stable and sustainable economy.

Mr. Vo Van Chuong in Quang Cong commune (Quang Dien), a household with many years of experience in aquaculture on the lagoon, affirmed that intercropping shrimp with crab and fish is really suitable for the current environmental and climate conditions. During the farming process, there are times when aquatic diseases still occur, but they are easier to control and handle than monocropping shrimp. Or when one of the farming objects gets sick or suffers damage, there are other effective farming objects to compensate, so there is rarely a loss. Moreover, intercropping costs less than monocropping shrimp, so when risks and diseases occur, the damage is also less.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Provincial Agricultural Extension Center (AEC) informed that from 2010 to now, aquaculture in Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon has developed stably and sustainably. Many aquatic species with economic value such as sea bass, grouper, brown, dia, crab, whale, mullet, eel... have been put into production and diversified farming species. The area for shrimp farming in the lagoon has decreased significantly, while the area for environmentally friendly mixed farming has increased.

In recent years, the Center has implemented many aquaculture models that adapt to climate change, bringing practical results. Notable models include community-based brackish water fish hatcheries, sustainable aquaculture in mangrove forests, safe brown fish farming, and crab farming in ponds and lagoons linked to product consumption.

Eel farming model in Quang Dien

The sustainable aquaculture model in the mangrove forest in Huong Phong commune (Hue city) has been implemented since 2021 with shrimp, crab, and mullet in an environmentally friendly direction, maintaining the ecosystem and creating sustainable livelihoods. This model is assessed to be suitable for the potential, advantages and production thinking of the local people, not only bringing efficiency but also contributing to the protection of mangrove forests, aiming at an ecological farming model, combining tourism services.

For a long time, raising specialty fish such as brown fish has often been mentioned in the lagoons of Quang Dien, Phu Vang, Phu Loc... but recently, TTKN has also successfully implemented it in Dien Huong commune (Phong Dien), opening up opportunities to expand the farming area of ​​this type of fish in Ngu Dien and some neighboring localities. Expanding the farming area of ​​brown fish is the goal of the provincial agricultural sector, aiming to form a concentrated, large-scale farming area, creating a source of products to meet market demand and building the brand "Thua Thien Hue brown fish".

Crab farming in general in the lagoon has been known for many years, but the agricultural sector has not stopped there but has also researched and introduced some suitable crab varieties, bringing higher economic efficiency. In the period from 2021 to present, TTKN has successfully implemented the crab farming model, which is being responded to by people, actively expanding the farming area and scale. The crab farming model is not only more effective than meat crab but is also produced according to the value chain, people are guaranteed to consume all products, so they can rest assured about the output. On average, each hectare is estimated to earn 120-130 million VND/crop.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha affirmed that the vast Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon area has great potential to diversify valuable aquaculture species. In order to increase the application of scientific and technical advances, introduce new varieties into production, and increase economic efficiency for people, the agricultural sector is continuing to research and introduce new species into production in localities.

At the end of last year, the Center for Aquaculture and Fisheries deployed a giant freshwater prawn seedling nursery model to proactively source seeds to organize production on low-efficiency rice growing areas in Quang Dien district. Accordingly, the model was deployed in Quang Cong commune with a scale of 1,000m2. The Center for Aquaculture and Fisheries coordinated with Toan Cau Seafood Company Limited in Ben Tre province to release giant freshwater prawn seeds on December 20, 2023 with a quantity of 20,000. The giant freshwater prawn seedling nursery process developed stably as expected by the agricultural sector with a survival rate of over 60%, and the harvested shrimp weight reached 500 shrimp/kg.

Not only grouper, sea bass, brown, crab, roe crab... and most recently giant freshwater prawn, but hopefully many new aquatic species will be put into production in the coming time, contributing to increasing the value of the Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon area.

Article and photos: Hoang Trieu