Aquaculture cages in the area near Hon Me island.

About 11km from the mainland, Hon Me Island (Nghi Son town) is the largest island in the archipelago of 18 large and small islands here. With a diverse ecosystem of flora and fauna, and wild beauty, Hon Me is considered a "green pearl" in the middle of the sea.

In order to exploit the available potential, since 2015, the Provincial People's Committee has approved the construction plan of Me Island in the direction of combining national defense with socio-economic development. Up to now, many tourism infrastructures have been invested, creating conditions for tourists to join tours to have unique experiences in Me Island.

Not only developing tourism, the sea here also has great potential for aquaculture. Since 2016, the Aquaculture Research Institute III has implemented a research project to build a model for raising lobsters, cobia, and snails combined with Pacific oysters here. The results show that the area has a clean, clear water environment, suitable for large-scale aquaculture development.

Mr. Tran Van Luan in Trung Son village, Nghi Son commune - one of the pioneering households in moving fish cages from Nghi Son bay to Hon Bung island, shared: "Faced with the situation of a large number of spontaneous aquaculture households, which has a significant impact on the water environment and is prone to disease outbreaks, with many potential risks, I boldly borrowed capital from banks and relatives to invest in moving fish cages. In the early days, my family encountered many difficulties, from transportation costs, investing in new cages and cages, to caring for and transporting food and fish. However, after a period of perseverance in overcoming difficulties, thanks to the clean water source outside Hon Bung island, helping fish grow healthily, reducing the risk of disease, my family not only stabilized with the job, but also expanded the number of cages and cages, increasing income many times over compared to before".

Not only Mr. Luan, many other households are also gradually affirming the right direction when deciding to move fish cages to islands such as Hon Me, Hon Bung, Hon Dot, Hon Mieng, Hon Vang... belonging to the Dao Me system to move towards sustainable aquaculture. In particular, Mr. Le Dinh Dung in Tien Phong residential group, Hai Binh ward, since the end of 2022 has invested nearly 12 billion VND in fish cage farming in the Dao Me area. With an average investment of releasing 120,000 pompano, 30,000 grouper and 50,000 cobia each year, after deducting investment costs, he earns a profit of more than 4 billion VND. Talking about the goal, Mr. Dung said that he is improving technology and cages to expand the scale, increase output and product quality, aiming for export.

In order to effectively exploit the potential of the water surface and develop cage fish farming into a large-scale production industry, on September 1, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3416/QD-UBND approving the Project "Developing key agricultural products for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030". In this project, the aquaculture project using cages and rafts on the sea area of ​​Hon Me island is given priority to call for investment with a total scale of 88 hectares (including 15 hectares of lobster farming and 73 hectares of marine fish farming). Then, on December 28, 2022, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 4716/QD-UBND approving the Project "Developing cage fish farming until 2025, with a vision to 2030". Accordingly, the area around Hon Me island aims to reach 700 cages by 2025, with an output of 1,400 tons; By 2030, the province will have 1,500 cages with an output of 4,500 tons. On June 5, 2023, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1913/QD-UBND on rapid and sustainable aquaculture development associated with firmly protecting national sovereignty at sea until 2045, in which the aquaculture project using cages and rafts in Me Island is prioritized for investment in building synchronous technical infrastructure, aiming to create a foundation for sustainable development for marine fisheries.

Chairman of Nghi Son Commune People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc Thuong commented: "Cage fish farming has made an important contribution to economic development and social security in coastal communes and wards. However, because the old farming areas are located in industrial production areas, moving to Me Island is an inevitable trend. Up to now, Nghi Son Commune has mobilized more than 30 households to move cages to Me Island area, in which many models have initially shown positive results.

Article and photos: Dinh Giang

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/suc-song-moi-o-dao-me-247551.htm