Nghe An Fisheries Industry after 5 years of merger and development

(Baonghean) - In 5 years of joining the common house "Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development", Nghe An's fisheries economy has had quite a lot of development and is relatively comprehensive.

The total aquatic product output of the province continues to grow in both aquaculture and exploitation. The total output in 2011 reached 105,814 tons, an increase of 49.26% compared to 2006.

By 2011, the province had 4,201 boats, an increase of 360 compared to 2006. Along with the purchase of large boats and modern equipment such as radar, transducers, positioning devices, fishing gear has also been improved to suit different fishing occupations. People have used squid, crab, and snail fishing to catch live seafood, thereby increasing economic value. New occupations such as squid fishing with 4-line gill nets, scavengers, and offshore scavengers have been used to replace traditional occupations.

White-leg shrimp farming is a new profession developing in Quynh Xuan commune - Quynh Luu. Photo: Cong Sang

Regarding aquaculture, it continues to develop strongly in all aspects: In 2011, the area put into aquaculture reached 22,500 hectares; of which the brackish water farming area was 2,000 hectares (1,732 hectares of intensive shrimp farming). Along with expanding the area of ​​rotational farming, intensive farming and crop rotation have contributed to increasing the income value per unit area. Concentrated aquaculture areas have been formed to create raw materials for export processing, such as the shrimp farming areas of Quynh Xuan, Mai Hung, Quynh Bang, Trinh Mon, Hung Hoa, Nghi Thai, Dien Kim, etc.

Farming productivity, especially shrimp farming, is quite high, the average shrimp farming productivity in 2011 reached nearly 6 tons/ha, many models achieved productivity of 10 - 15 tons/ha. Of which, more than 1,000 hectares are raising white-leg shrimp. This is a livestock that is considered "super profitable". With a productivity of 15 - 20 tons/ha/year. For households with qualifications and investment capital, productivity can reach 30 - 35 tons/ha and can raise 3 crops per year.

Along with the development of farming areas, the construction of seed production areas has gone one step ahead. The total number of level 1 seed production facilities in the province by the end of 2011 was 64 farms, including 7 freshwater fish seed production farms and 55 shrimp seed production farms. From the successful breeding of black tiger shrimp, monosex tilapia, pangasius and most recently white-legged shrimp, Nghe An is considered the Center for aquatic seed in the North Central region. In 2011, 910 million shrimp seeds of all kinds were produced. The inspection and quarantine of aquatic seeds has been implemented quite well, most of the seeds imported into the province as well as produced in the area before being put into farming are quarantined, so the disease situation is controlled, contributing to improving the efficiency of farmers.

Seafood processing for domestic use continues to develop, annually supplying the market with nearly 20 million liters of fish sauce, over 15,000 tons of fish meal, and 3,000 tons of various types of fish sauce. Along with the development in quantity, the quality of products has also been improved, many production facilities have built product brands and gained a foothold in the market, many seafood processing villages have been recognized and operated effectively.

The state has always paid attention to and invested in the infrastructure of aquatic services quite synchronously, from fishing ports, fishing wharves, storm shelters to infrastructure of farming and breeding areas. On average, the state invests 17 billion VND annually in building technical infrastructure of farming and breeding areas. Together with the state, farmers have invested over 20 billion VND annually in building pond systems and breeding farms, and as a result, by 2011, over 1,000 hectares of intensive shrimp farming, 55 shrimp farms, and a system of primary fish farms have been invested in and upgraded.

At the same time, with investment in infrastructure and human resources, the State has issued many policies to support the development of the fisheries economy. Every year, the Provincial People's Committee has allocated nearly 3 billion VND/year to support production through policies such as policies to support the development of shrimp hatcheries, policies to support the conversion of other areas to aquaculture, policies to support interest rates for building new offshore fishing vessels, policies to support chemicals to fight epidemics, etc.

Scientific and fishery extension work has also been given attention and developed strongly. Many advanced technologies have been transferred, such as intensive black tiger shrimp farming technology, post-harvest product preservation technology on fishing fleets, introduction of new species with high economic value, white-leg shrimp seed production technology, breeding technology for sea bass, black snakehead fish, and goby; technological processes for commercial farming of a single species with high economic value such as eel, yellowfin sea bream, goby, spiny soft-shell turtle, rainbow trout, spotted catfish, cage crab... have initially been effective and are being widely replicated.

Promoting the traditional achievements and exploiting the potential strengths of 82km of coastline and thousands of hectares of existing lakes and ponds, Nghe An aquaculture strives to develop production by 2020. With the following goals: The growth rate of aquaculture production value in the period 2011-2015 reaches 9-9.5%/year, in the period 2016-2020 reaches 9.6 - 10%/year. The value of aquaculture production (at 1994 prices) in 2015 reached 797,440 million VND, in 2020 reached 977,185 million VND. The total aquaculture output in 2015 reached 105,000 tons, in 2020 reached 110,000 tons; of which the exploited aquaculture output is stable at 55,000 - 60,000 tons.

Developing the offshore fleet, gradually reducing the nearshore fleet, in the period 2011 - 2015, stabilizing the number of exploitation vehicles at about 4,000 vehicles, by 2020 the number of exploitation vessels will decrease to about 3,600 - 3,700, exploitation output will reach 55,000 - 60,000 tons.

Focus on effectively exploiting the potential of water surface, promoting the development of intensive farming to create raw materials for processing and export based on the application of high technology in seed production as well as farming. Introduce new farming species with high economic value, build and develop Nghe An into an aquatic breeding center of the North Central region.

Tran Huu Tien