Viet Nam has great potential and advantages to develop oyster production chains, experts said at a conference on aquaculture technology organised in HCM City on Tuesday by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Speaking at the conference, Dinh Xuan Lap, an expert from International Centre for Aquaculture & Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS), said that Viet Nam's aquaculture in general and mollusk farming, in particular, has changed positively from self-sufficiency, small-scale production to export-oriented commercial production.
Viet Nam's mollusk products are exported to 50 markets around the world including the EU, the US, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and Australia.
With more than 3,260km of coastline and many areas that are favourable habitats for bivalve mollusks, Viet Nam has advantages in raising oysters.
Currently, the country has about 3,200ha of oyster farms across 24 coastal provinces and cities, but it is a very modest figure compared to its potential, Lap said.
Increasing demand for oysters in both Viet Nam and other countries creates motivation for oyster farmers to invest in their farming, Lap said, adding that however, Vietnamese oyster farmers face limitations relating to farming technology, breeding source, and water management for oyster farming.
Ihara Hidenori, deputy chief representative of the JICA Office in Viet Nam, said that from June 2022, JICA and Yamanaka Inc (Japan) have surveyed the feasibility of applying farming technology in raising oysters for raw eating and sanitary management technology to promote oyster farming in Viet Nam’s south central Khanh Hoa Province.
Through the project, Japan wants to spread the technology of oyster farming with added value and high productivity, helping to increase income for aquaculture farmers in Viet Nam in the future, he said.
Takada Shinji, director-general of Yamanaka Company, said that Japan has the experience and high-quality oyster farming techniques, and can support Viet Nam to develop oyster production chains in the future. — VNS