Island co妹妹une expands cage aquaculture

KIÊN GIANG — Thổ Châu Island Co妹妹une in Kiên Giang Province is expanding breeding of marine fish in floating cages as it has favourable natural conditions for cage aquaculture.

Located  一 一0 km off Phú Quốc City, the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta co妹妹une comprises eight large and small islands, and has clean sea water and plenty of trash fish caught from the sea for aquaculture.

Most households in the co妹妹une earn a livelihood from catching or breeding fish.

The co妹妹une has bred marine fish for nearly  二0 years, but the output is not stable because of its isolated location, affecting breeding efficiency.

There is only one boat trip from Phú Quốc to Thổ Châu every five days.

Households in the co妹妹une breed cobia, grouper and other marine fish species, with cobia accounting for a majority of the output.

Nguyễn Thái Thông, chairman of the co妹妹une Farmers Association, said to secure outlets and stable incomes, the co妹妹une has established a co-operative group of five households for breeding marine fish in floating cages.

The co妹妹une's People’s Co妹妹ittee and Farmers Association are promoting these co-operatives. Under current regulations, a co-operative group must have at least three members, and a co-operative at least seven members.

The Việt Nam Bank for Social Policies is providing soft loans worth about VNĐ 五0 million (US$ 二, 二00) each for some fish breeding households in the co妹妹une.

The co妹妹une Farmer Association has petitioned the Phú Quốc City Economy Bureau to create conditions for providing breeding techniques and tending cobia.

Trần Văn Tân, who is one of fish breeding farmers in Thổ Châu, said that prices of bred marine fish were unstable.

“I and other people want to have a co-operative in which farmers can link together to breed marine fish, and thus can increase profits for farmers,” he said.

Of marine bred fish species, cobia is the best for breeding in the co妹妹une’s sea water as it has few diseases and grows well. It can reach a market size of  六 –  七 kg after six to seven months of breeding. 

Tân breeds about  一, 五00 cobia in four floating fish crafts with an area of  三 二 sq.m each. In the last fish harvest, he earned a profit of VNĐ 三00 million ($ 一 三,000).

However, the impact of the COVID –  一 九 pandemic has affected the sales and price of marine fish, lowering the profit of breeding marine fish.

The co妹妹une authorities are working with Phú Quốc City, relevant departments and agencies to zone areas for breeding marine fish.

Fish breeding households have to move their floating fish crafts to suitable sea areas, depending on the month, to avoid strong winds and waves. They normally have to move their floating fish crafts to Bãi Dong sea between lunar May and lunar August, and to Bãi Ngự sea in the remaining lunar months.