KienGiang (VNS/VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has greatpotential and advantages in marine aquaculture and breeding of diversifiedmarine aquatic species of high economic value, experts have said.

Withits coastline of more than 200km and 143 islands, it had 3,610 floating cageslast year, the largest number in the delta. They yielded a harvest of3,000 tonnes last year.

Theprovince is rarely hit by storms and its coastal waters are of moderate depth,both advantageous for marine aquaculture.

Theprovince farms species like cobia, grouper, yellow pomfret, and pearl oystersin near-shore areas, mostly in Kien Hai and Kien Luong districts and Phu Quocand Ha Tien cities.

Speakingat a seminar last week, Le Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee, said however that breeding techniques are still outdated andinfrastructure needs to be further developed for marine aquaculture.     

Buthe said the marine economy would be the province’s key sector.

Butthe province has not taken measures to secure the supply of brood stock ormanage their quality.

Itlacks facilities to produce feed for aquatic creatures and process seafood forexports.

Thelinkages between various stakeholders in producing and consuming seafoodproducts remain limited and so demand and prices are inconsistent.

Thebreeding of bivalve molusks near shore is affected by environmental pollution.

NguyenHuu Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Seaculture Association, said the province’smarine aquaculture is mostly manual and unplanned, of a small scale, and donemostly by individuals, making economic efficiency low.

Theprovince should develop its marine aquaculture towards sustainability, useadvanced techniques, breed marine species on a large scale, and switch fromnear - shore to off - shore aquaculture, he said.

Itshould diversify aquatic species to farm fish, bivalve molusks and seaweedtogether to increase their value and reduce pollution, he said.

Otherparticipants suggested solutions for sustainable development such as usingadvanced techniques, developing links between various stakeholders and usinghi-tech floating cages like high-density polyethylene ones based on theNorwegian model. 

Theytoo said the province should increase the production of high-quality broodstock, feed for aquatic creatures, modern floating cages and other facilitiesfor aquaculture.  

KienGiang is implementing a plan to sustainably develop marine aquaculture in 2021– 30, focusing on developing it on an industrial and modern scale.

Itis supporting marine aquaculture by providing farmers with advanced breedingtechniques and easy loans.

Itis helping them establish co-operatives and co-operative groups that will linkup with companies to increase production efficiency, secure outlets and steadyprices and increase their incomes.

Theprovince aims to have 3,890 floating cages and an output of 3,535 tonnes thisyear./.