Finding solutions to develop farmed lobsters

Developed for more than 30 years, lobster farming is still in a precarious and unsustainable state. Recently, the Department of Fisheries ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ) in collaboration with the Vietnam Marine Aquaculture Association and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development organized a forum to discuss solutions for developing the lobster value chain to assess the current situation and develop a development plan for the coming time.

Unstable, unsustainable

Lobster farming is usually in coastal provinces from Quang Binh to Ba Ria - Vung Tau , in which development is concentrated in 2 provinces Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa (accounting for more than 95% of the number of cages and farming output in the country). There are currently 4 main species of farmed lobsters, of which the most popular are green lobster and flower lobster accounting for 97-98%, the remaining are red lobster and bamboo lobster. Lobster farming has created jobs for tens of thousands of workers, bringing in thousands of billions of VND each year, in which the export value is from 250-300 million USD.

Mr. Nguyen Tri Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: Lobster farming in Phu Yen has developed for more than 30 years, creating regular jobs for about 6,000 workers and fishermen who have accumulated a lot of experience through generations. The province has planned 1,650 hectares for lobster farming, of which Song Cau town has 1,000 hectares (Cu Mong lagoon 253 hectares, Xuan Dai bay 747 hectares) and Tuy An district has 650 hectares. In 2022, the province will raise about 110,000 lobster cages, with an output of more than 1,750 tons; in the first 6 months of 2023 alone, about 87,500 cages were raised, with an output of more than 1,000 tons. However, the farming technology is still simple, the farming techniques are mainly based on experience, the cage and raft structure is traditional, so it can only be raised in closed bays with little wind and waves.

The biggest difficulty now is that the planning of Phu Yen province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, has not been approved, so the allocation of sea areas is still facing many obstacles and has not been implemented. The locality has not been proactive in the source of seeds, mainly exploiting natural resources and importing from abroad, so the quality is unstable.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huu, Deputy Head of the Aquaculture Department (Department of Fisheries), said: Lobster farming in our country is still spontaneous, household-scale, and small-scale. Localities lack detailed planning to rearrange farming areas, have not invested in infrastructure for marine farming areas, most of them use traditional cages, farming technology is outdated, the environment and diseases on farmed lobsters are increasingly complicated. The management and licensing of lobster farming in cages in localities face many difficulties, and the linkages in the production value chain have not been formed.

Traders buy lobsters in Song Cau town. Photo: ANH NGOC

Prioritize process and technology improvement

The development orientation of Vietnam's shrimp industry is to focus on raising and exporting two main species: spiny lobster and green lobster. Continue to develop cage farming at sea in the direction of applying high technology to develop open sea areas; shift from coastal areas to offshore areas. At the same time, on-land tanks are used to raise industrial feed and circulating filtration systems. However, the issue of seed and industrial feed for farmed lobsters is of concern to farmers and localities.

According to the Aquaculture Research Institute III, the task of researching and producing artificial seeds of spiny lobster (Panulirus ornatus) was assigned to the institute by the Ministry of Science and Technology from 2019-2023. The research results so far are relatively positive. Spiny lobster larvae were preserved for more than 6 months and some phyllosoma 10 larvae were created. However, more experiments are needed to be successful in researching and producing artificial seeds of spiny lobster.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Van Nha, Deputy Director of the Institute for Aquaculture Research III, said: From 2019 to now, the group of authors of the institute and Dac Loc Seafood Company Limited have researched and produced industrial feed for green lobsters and spiny lobsters raised in water reuse tanks using a recirculating filtration system (RAS). Commercial farming in RAS, applying 50% industrial pellet feed and 50% fresh feed for spiny lobsters, while green lobsters can apply 100% pellet feed up to the size of 0.25kg/fish. Raising spiny lobsters with industrial feed has achieved a high survival rate, but slow growth. Raising lobsters in tanks with industrial feed has brought positive results in terms of growth, survival rate and product quality. The group of authors is re-evaluating the economic efficiency of the model.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Marine Aquaculture Association, said: To sustainably develop lobster farming, priority should be given to research to perfect the domestic seed production process, sustainable commercial farming technology, industrial feed production technology and research on measures to prevent and treat diseases in lobsters. Localities need to organize production according to the value chain; assess environmental carrying capacity; review and arrange cage density to ensure technical requirements; expand open and offshore marine farming areas using new material farming technology. Localities need to review lobster farming development plans to integrate into local socio-economic planning; prioritize investment in infrastructure serving marine farming; perfect policies and mechanisms to strengthen management and encourage the development of sustainable lobster value chains.

MR. NGOC

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