Aquaculture: A Mainstay Orientation of Phu Yen Province

In saltwater fishery, Phu Yen will expand the fisheries and rear cash-earning varieties for the domestic and export markets. By 2010, the province will have 6,130-ha fisheries, 22,050 rearing cages and 207 breeding fish units. The production then will be 11,850 tonnes a year and the export revenues will reach US$45 million.

 

In freshwater fishery, Phu Yen encourages the gardening - aquaculture - husbandry model, commonly known as VAC model, and the cage-rearing form. In large water reservoirs (more than 5 ha) like Song Hinh, Dong Tron and Phu Xuan, the province applies surface aquaculture. On average, three cubic metres of cages will rear 100 kg of fish a year. The province targets to rear 2,200 tonnes of fish for the domestic market and for the export to China, the US and Japan.

 

In brackish water areas, Phu Yen will consider the fisheries when the infrastructure system is ready. Apart from lobster, the Phu Yen fisheries also raise other varieties of aquatic products, aiming at 4,250 tonnes by 2010.

 

The main aquatic varieties comprise of lobster, grouper, cobia, red snapper, perch, oyster, barnacle, abalone, special seaweed and others. Especially, Phu Yen Province plans to build 16,000 cages to raise commercial lobster by 2010 and 4,000 breeding lobster cages (800 tonnes of breeding lobsters a year - seven times higher than breeding output in 1999). The fisheries will mobilise all economic sectors in the country, attract capital and technologies from foreign countries, especially, FDI capital for growing several cash-earning species in Song Cau, Tuy Hoa and An Phu estuaries.

Phu Yen Province considers technological application and transfer as a breakthrough in sustainable aquaculture. In the coming year, Phu Yen will focus on solutions to develop new techniques to produce new varieties, quickly complete disease-free rearing technologies, apply new scientific achievements, raise production capacity and level, ensure material sources and apply IT to aquaculture management. 

 

The province also pays attention to human resource training for the fisheries. It will cooperate with research institutes, universities and schools in Vietnam and other countries to have quick access to scientific and technological advancements and learn foreign fishery managerial experience. It encourages the establishment of fish farms, collectives and associations in every locality and encourages strong relationship between breeding varieties production and fish feed production. At the grassroots level, it advises to set up fisheries associations to increase the autonomy and mutual assistance in production.

 

To ensure the supply of breeding aquatics for fishermen, the fisheries will develop one or two first-grade breeding centres to produce 3-5 million breeding animals a year by 2010. To ensure disease-free shrimp source for the provincial and national markets, the province will build 200 farms to rear two billion units a year, over 7.5 times higher than the volume in 1999. The fisheries sector also invests in breeding areas like Ganh Do with 50 fish farms and 500 million units/year, Xuan Hai with 120 farms and 1.2 billion units a year, and An Hoa Hiep with 35 farms and 350-500 million units/year.

 

The ensure the fulfilment of socioeconomic target, the estimated investment capital for the fisheries in the 2006-2010 period is VND351 billion (US$22 million)