Aquaculture sector looks to sustainable development

The management capacity of the aquaculture sector needs to be improved for efficient and sustainable development and production, heard a conference in Nha Trang, the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, on January 11.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said aquaculture has an important role in the national economy as it contributed 22.5 percent of the country’s total agriculture-forestry-aquaculture export value in 2018 and is the mean of living of millions of people nationwide.

In 2018, bred and caught aquatic products hit 7.75 million tonnes and they have so far been sold in 170 countries and territories. Exports reached over 9 billion USD, accounting for 23 percent of the agricultural sector’s export earnings.

Participants sought to form an infrastructure system linked with the support industry and logistics services for aquaculture to reduce post-harvest losses.

A developed infrastructure for the breeding of young shrimp is needed to improve the quality and output of shrimp, one of the major hard-currency earners of the country, while the ecosystem is still protected, they said.

They talked about the application and transfer of technologies in exploitation and breeding to raise production efficiency and adapt to climate change.

Protecting the coastal resources needs to receive due attention, they said.