Marine farming in the heart of heritage: Why not?

Enterprises investing in natural capital (Creating a Nature-Positive Economy) is a global trend that Vietnam in general and Quang Ninh in particular are aiming for. In particular, marine farming combined with tourism development will exploit heritage values more effectively, create more jobs, and contribute to sustainable development.

Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay have great potential for aquaculture.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Seafarming Association, said that to develop natural seafaring, no area is more favorable than marine conservation areas and natural heritage areas - in which the province has favorable conditions compared to many other localities. Quang Ninh has 4 areas with great natural asset value: The core area of the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay with an area of 434km2, including 775 islands with many caves and beautiful beaches, with typical limestone landscapes, marine ecosystems and ecosystems on limestone islands; the second is Bai Tu Long National Park with a total area of over 15,000ha, including water areas and islands: Ba Mun, Tra Ngo Lon, Tra Ngo Nho, Sau Nam, Sau Dong, Dong Ma, Mang Ha Nam, Mang Ha Bac, Di To, Chay Chay, Da Nhay and more than 20 other small islands, islets and floating islands; the third is the Co To - Dao Tran marine conservation area; The fourth is the Tien Yen estuary wetland area of nearly 5,200 hectares, spanning across the three districts of Tien Yen, Dam Ha and Hai Ha.

Although heritage areas need strict protection, it does not mean that the valuable living natural resources of those areas should be turned into “dead museums”, “frozen relics in glass cabinets”, only for tourists to see and visit according to the principle of “no touching”, but a completely different management approach is needed, concurrently preserving and developing. Heritage areas and marine reserves must be identified as optimal spaces for the development of controlled natural and commercial marine aquaculture activities, protecting marine resources, protecting the environment and ecosystems, helping fishermen who specialize in near-shore fishing to switch to marine aquaculture, participating in the development of the marine economy.

Marine farming at Phat Co island, Van Don district.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung also highly appreciated the breakthrough thinking of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province in building a concentrated aquaculture project in the buffer zone of Ha Long Bay, aiming to serve the management, protection and promotion of the value of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, concretizing the goals and tasks of sustainable marine aquaculture development, creating long-term stable livelihoods for local people on the basis of modern farming technology and traditional experience. The project also creates new tourism products, develops community tourism, responsible tourism, and experiential tourism, aiming to enhance the status of the world natural heritage of Ha Long Bay, helping to ensure the goal of improving environmental quality, creating an impression of a green, clean and beautiful Ha Long City.

The project location with a scale of 260ha is located in the buffer zone of the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay, divided into 2 areas: Area 1, area of 210ha, East borders Tuan Chau - Cat Ba island route, West borders Hoang Tan commune boundary area, South borders Ba Mom route, North borders Tuan Chau island. And area 2, area of 50ha, East borders Vung Ba Cua island, West borders Bo Hung island, South borders Tra Huong island and Lach Ngan route, North borders Ba Mom route.

To develop integrated marine aquaculture in heritage areas and conservation areas, it is necessary to plan marine space and design in detail for each operational component, associated with technical standards and strict management regulations to ensure sustainable development, meeting economic, social and environmental criteria. In the coming time, Quang Ninh will increase the number of international cruise ship tourist groups; plan to organize more than 170 tourism promotion programs and events; aim to exploit comprehensively, reasonably, and supplement services and tours to Bai Tu Long Bay.

On an area of 61.25km2, the aquatic marine area has an area of 96.58km2, with over 630 islands, Bai Tu Long Bay is the first and only ASEAN Heritage Park of Quang Ninh to date, possessing a rich ecosystem with 1,220 species of marine life, many of which are recorded in the Vietnam Red Book and the World Red Book, with many cultural sediments, spiritual tourism values, and ecotourism.

In fact, although located in a convenient traffic location with highways, airports, waterways and adjacent to Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay is rarely exploited for tourism. Expanding the tourism space in Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay will certainly be a new opportunity for Quang Ninh to transform its growth model from brown to green. Enterprises can participate in natural marine farming or commercial marine farming combined with the protection and development of aquatic resources in the ecosystem restoration area, administrative service area and buffer zone of the marine reserve. The business community will be an extension to further support and protect the area that needs to be preserved, avoiding illegal fishing activities and IUU violations.

Huynh Dang

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