Quang Ninh Agricultural Extension Center sells first oyster spat batch
On December 1st, the Quang Ninh Agricultural Extension Center sold its first 150,000 oyster spat after years of waiting.
The project to invest in the infrastructure of the Van Don Mollusk Seed Production Area is state-funded and implemented in the waters of Van Yen Commune, Van Don District, Quqng Ninh Province. It spans a total area of 300 hectares, including 292.4 hectares of sea and 7.6 hectares of land.
By 2019, the project was completed, including a management building, seed testing laboratory, environmental management center, staff quarters, waste treatment facilities (solid, chemical, and wastewater), a water pump station, filtration tanks, freshwater storage tanks, and open spaces, with a total value exceeding 100 billion VND.
After being completed for five years but remaining inactive, the project was handed over by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Quang Ninh Agricultural Extension Center for management and use by early 2024. Upon taking responsibility, the center’s staff transferred seedlings from the production area in Minh Thanh Ward, Quang Yen Town, to the Van Don coastal area for nurturing, with the goal of selling them to local residents.
On December 1, the Quang Ninh Agricultural Extension Center launched its long-awaited first batch of oyster seeds, supplying 150,000 spat to local farmers. Trac Van Lan, an oyster farmer in Van Don, remarked: “I bought 150,000 spat from the center today. They appear healthy and well-adapted to the local water conditions, having been nurtured in the Van Don sea. This familiarity with the environment should help them grow and thrive more easily.”
Phan Thanh Nghi, Deputy Director of Quang Ninh’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “Demand for high-quality oyster seeds is high, with many farmers already placing orders. Going forward, the Department will strengthen the center’s operations to fulfill its mission of supplying quality seeds for aquaculture.”
Nguyen Chi Thanh, Head of the Operations and Technical Transfer Station at the Quang Ninh Agricultural Extension Center, stated that the center plans to produce and distribute around 1 million oyster spat this month to support aquaculture farmers in Van Don and nearby areas.
Do Dinh Minh, Director of the Quang Ninh Fisheries Sub-Department, noted that the province’s annual demand for aquaculture seed stock is about 6 billion, but local facilities currently meet only 30%, with the rest imported from provinces like Ninh Binh, Khanh Hoa, and Nam Dinh.
VFM
