The number of cages and rafts for aquaculture using traditional materials is popular in Song Cau town. Many people want to switch to cages and rafts using new materials but the cost is very high. Photo: ANH NGOC |
There are still many problems and difficulties.
Song Cau Town has a coastline of over 80km, with many lagoons and deep, wind-sheltered bays (Cu Mong lagoon has an area of over 2,600ha, Xuan Dai bay has an area of about 13,000ha), so it is very favorable for developing aquaculture, especially lobster farming in cages. In recent times, local cage farming has continued to develop and brought high economic efficiency to the people, in which lobster is still one of the main livestock of the town, with about 4,000 households and over 10,000 workers participating. In 2024, lobster output in Song Cau Town will reach nearly 2,200 tons, with an average yield of about 33.5kg/cage, and the value obtained per unit of aquaculture water surface is about 1.55 billion VND/ha/year.
However, the current shortcomings and limitations in aquaculture as well as the difficulties and challenges that Song Cau Town will face in the coming time are very large. This locality is implementing appropriate solutions to promptly resolve the shortcomings and difficulties, moving towards sustainable aquaculture.
According to Mr. Pham Van Phai in Xuan Thanh Ward (Song Cau Town), the current situation of cage aquaculture in Song Cau Town is not stable and unsustainable, the environment of most farming areas is polluted. The reason is that most people raise fish spontaneously, the density of cages is too high, while there are many problems so the local government has not allocated water surface land for people to do aquaculture stably and long-term. "For a long time, lobster farmers have mainly used fresh food to feed the shrimp (there is no industrial food to replace it), leading to the farming environment becoming increasingly polluted, when the weather is unfavorable, the situation of mass death of farmed fish occurs, causing great damage", said Mr. Pham Van Phai.
Song Cau Town is forming and developing 6 offshore marine farming areas with a total area of 1,380 hectares, including 4 locations outside Cu Mong lagoon and 2 locations outside Xuan Dai bay. The total volume of marine fish cages in these 6 areas is about 251,200m3 ( about 200 industrial cages); arranging 2,070 rafts for mollusk farming and seaweed cultivation, with an area of about 200m2 / raft; implementation period is from 2025-2030.
Chairman of Song Cau Town People's Committee Phan Tran Van Huy
Mr. Do Thanh Phuoc in Xuan Thinh commune (Song Cau town) said: Currently, most of the aquaculture cages in Song Cau town are mainly made of traditional materials such as wood, bamboo, plastic drums... which are not suitable for strong winds and waves when natural disasters occur. Aquaculture farmers also really want to switch from traditional cages to cages made of new HDPE materials, raising in an industrial direction, but the investment cost is very high. For juveniles, especially lobster juveniles, farmers still know that buying juveniles floating on the market is not guaranteed in quality, but the price is many times cheaper than juveniles with full papers...
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the inventory results show that by June 2024, the total area of aquaculture cages in Song Cau Town is about 4,400 hectares (Cu Mong lagoon is more than 1,020 hectares, Xuan Dai bay is 3,380 hectares), the number of cages is about 134,600 (390 cages for raising lobster fry, 129,320 cages for commercial lobster farming, 4,890 cages for fish farming). In the past time, the locality has made many efforts in managing, arranging and clearing aquaculture cages that are not according to the planning, however, the arrangement and clearance have not been as effective as planned...
Urgently arrange and stabilize farming areas
With the goal of developing aquaculture in a sustainable direction, the People's Committee of Song Cau Town has established and assigned specific responsibilities from authorities at all levels to the people in properly implementing legal regulations, especially strictly implementing the policy of not allowing the number of new aquaculture cages to arise, and at the same time handling, clearing, and rearranging farming areas in Xuan Dai Bay and Cu Mong Lagoon. The locality resolutely strictly handles violations in the construction of new cages and rafts, the release of new breeds (including oyster, mussel, black copper, and fishing nets) not in accordance with regulations in Cu Mong Lagoon and Xuan Dai Bay. Song Cau is also making a plan to arrange and handle aquaculture cages and rafts and completely clear oyster and mussel cages and rafts in 2025.
Mr. Nguyen Thai Hai Anh, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Song Cau Town, said: According to the plan, Song Cau Town will reduce the number of aquaculture cages and rafts in Cu Mong lagoon and Xuan Dai bay. Accordingly, by 2027, Song Cau Town will have about 1,000 hectares (Cu Mong lagoon 253 hectares, Xuan Dai bay 747 hectares). By 2030, Cu Mong lagoon will be reduced to 200 hectares, the total volume of aquaculture cages will be about 86,000m3 ( equivalent to 8,000 cages, of which 3,000 cages are for commercial lobster farming, 4,000 cages for lobster seed rearing, and 1,000 cages for marine fish farming); Xuan Dai Bay is reduced to 600ha, the total cage volume is about 607,125m3 ( equivalent to 39,000 cages, of which 30,000 cages are for commercial lobster farming, 3,000 cages are for lobster breeding, and 6,000 cages are for marine fish farming).
To develop aquaculture in a sustainable direction, Mr. Phan Tran Van Huy, Chairman of Song Cau Town People's Committee, proposed a solution: The town is implementing the arrangement and allocation of sea and water areas for aquaculture in cages and rafts in farming areas, moving towards ending the situation of unlicensed and illegal aquaculture in lagoons and bays. The locality is forming an offshore marine aquaculture area with an area of about 1,380 hectares, investing in farming technology suitable for each farming object. Song Cau is also perfecting 129 aquaculture community groups according to the regulations of autonomy, mutual assistance, production support, traceability of goods, environmental protection, and security and order protection. Implementing the project to collect and treat waste from aquaculture in cages and rafts; investing in coastal infrastructure serving aquaculture; applying science and technology and developing aquaculture in offshore areas; converting aquaculture cages to adapt to climate change.
Source: https://baophuyen.vn/kinh-te/202506/nuoi-thuy-san-long-be-o-song-caukhac-phuc-ton-tai-de-phat-trien-ben-vung-9a11cb6/
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