Marine farming associated with the development of Kien Giang island tourism

Nuôi biển gắn liền phát triển du lịch biển đảo Kiên Giang - Ảnh 1. — Mr. Le Huu Toan - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Giang province - said that marine farming is one of the strengths of local economic development - Photo: CHI CONG

With low mountainous terrain, plains and about 143 large and small islands, with 63,000km2 ^of fishing grounds, Kien Giang has all the advantages to exploit and raise fish in cages at sea.

People get better thanks to marine farming

People are currently focusing on raising fish in cages in Nam Du, An Son, Lai Son and Hon Tre (Kien Hai district), Hon Nghe and Son Hai communes (Kien Luong district), Ha Tien city and especially in Ganh Dau, Tho Chau, Duong To communes and An Thoi ward (Phu Quoc city).

Ms. Tran Thi Anh Ngoc - a resident of Rach Vem (Ganh Dau commune) - said that her family and the local fishing village people make a living by exploiting, catching aquatic products and building cages to raise grouper and cobia at sea.

Ms. Ngoc is currently raising two groups of groupers (each fish is estimated to weigh over 1kg). Mr. Tran Ba Quang (Ms. Ngoc's father) has free time to sail out to sea to catch bait fish to feed the groupers to reduce costs and increase profits.

Nuôi biển gắn liền phát triển du lịch biển đảo Kiên Giang - Ảnh 2. — Grouper is the main fish species chosen by Kien Giang people to raise and develop the economy - Photo: CHI CONG

Ms. Ngoc sells grouper for 500,000 - 650,000 VND/kg (this price is calculated according to the restaurant serving tourists, without adding noodles or vegetables). Tourists who come to Rach Vem to play and have a need to eat, she will process it into many delicious dishes such as grouper hotpot, lemon, grilled and steamed... Grouper is thereby increased in value, contributing to expanding consumption in the market.

“People in Rach Vem still cling to the sea and live off marine farming, which is closely linked to tourism. The grouper and cobia I raise are mainly for sale to tourists. Tourists love to eat this grouper. Not only me, but also other people here. People’s lives have become much more stable thanks to this,” Ngoc happily said.

Mr. Tran Thanh Vu - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Duong To Commune - informed that in Duong To Commune, there are currently about 50 households raising fish in cages at sea. Through this, people have a stable and better life. People mainly raise grouper, cobia, yellowfin pompano... and sell to many restaurants and hotels in Phu Quoc to serve tourists.

“Grouper and cobia sometimes cost around 120,000 - 140,000 VND/kg (depending on the type). This price is not high, but fish farmers who are skillful in maintaining productivity can still maintain and develop their profession stably,” said Mr. Vu.

Nuôi biển gắn liền phát triển du lịch biển đảo Kiên Giang - Ảnh 3. — People in Rach Vem (Ganh Dau commune, Phu Quoc city, Kien Giang) build floating houses on the sea, combine grouper farming, and develop tourism - Photo: CHI CONG

What to do to develop sustainable marine farming?

Due to many factors, there were times when Kien Giang’s marine aquaculture industry faced difficulties and challenges. People lacked capital and could not raise grouper, cobia, and yellowfin pompano for farming. The farming environment also became worse, and farmed fish often got sick.

Kien Giang thereby rearranges sustainable and effective marine farming; supports marine farmers to access loans from the farmer support fund and preferential loans from local credit institutions to restore production after difficult times.

The locality especially supports people to convert from traditional, near-shore fish cage farming to industrial, offshore marine farming, creating great production value and applying scientific and technological advances, linking production chains, using industrial feed to gradually replace trash fish feed, contributing to protecting aquatic resources and sustainable development.

Nuôi biển gắn liền phát triển du lịch biển đảo Kiên Giang - Ảnh 4. — Not only grouper, cobia, and giant trevally, but Kien Giang people have recently also domesticated squid to serve tourists - Photo: CHI CONG

Mr. Le Huu Toan - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Giang province - said that people in Kien Hai district, Ha Tien city and Phu Quoc city have recently used HDPE cages to experimentally raise grouper, cobia... which brought about efficiency, reduced risks, increased output, and helped the marine farming industry develop sustainably.

In 2022-2023, grouper, cobia, and giant trevally raised in HDPE cages will grow well, with a high survival rate of over 85% (depending on the species) and 2-3 times higher than traditional cages. In 2024, Kien Giang will deploy 11 marine fish farming sites using HDPE plastic cages using industrial feed in fish farming.

“In recent times, Kien Giang has always had policies to attract investment, support the development of marine aquaculture, and especially will plan and allocate sea surface for people to develop marine aquaculture effectively and sustainably. The locality organizes production according to value chain linkages to create output for products,” Mr. Toan emphasized.