Green transition in aquaculture

Dong Nai is the leading province in southern Viet Nam in livestock and aquaculture development. With a dense river network and vast water surface area, the province’s aquaculture production value has consistently recorded the highest growth rate in the agriculture-forestry-fishery sector nationwide for years. Many of its aquaculture farming models also rank among the most profitable compared to other production models.

A high-tech, environmentally friendly shrimp-farming model at Thanh Cong Agricultural and Aquaculture Service Cooperative, Phuoc An Commune. Photo: Binh Nguyen

However, environmental pollution challenges in aquaculture and seafood processing are on the rise. In response, the fisheries sector has implemented numerous green transition and digital transformation solutions associated with sustainable development.

Among the top performers in growth

Dong Nai province continues to hold significant potential for aquaculture development. In 2025, the province’s pond-based aquaculture area reached nearly 9,900 hectares, including around 8,300 hectares of freshwater farming and almost 1,600 hectares of brackish-water farming. Additionally, the province has 20 reservoirs used for both aquaculture and capture fisheries, with a total water surface area of nearly 51,500 hectares. Cage and raft aquaculture is also highly developed, with roughly 1,300 rafts and over 5,200 cages.

In 2025, the province’s total aquatic output exceeded 82,500 tonnes, fulfilling 100 percent of the annual target. Of this, aquaculture accounted for nearly 76,100 tonnes, while capture fisheries contributed over 6,400 tonnes. The total production value was estimated at more than VND 3.1 trillion.

For many years, Dong Nai’s aquaculture sector has consistently driven growth within the agriculture-forestry-fishery sector. Several high-profit models, including high-tech white-leg shrimp farming and specialty fish farming, generate annual incomes of up to billions of dong per hectare and rank among the most profitable compared to other livestock and crop production models. According to the Dong Nai Provincial Statistics Office, in 2025, the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector grew by 3.22 percent, with the fisheries sector alone seeing a value-added growth of 4.84 percent.

Nguyen Duc Nam, Deputy Head of the Economic Division of Tri An commune, stated that with a total area of over 66,000 hectares, Tri An is the largest commune in the Southeastern region. Forests and water bodies account for about 86 percent of its total area. The commune has nearly 13,000 hectares of water surface, including 250 hectares of household aquaculture ponds and almost 1,100 cages and rafts. Aquaculture and capture fisheries are the commune’s key economic drivers. To develop sustainable agriculture along value chains, the commune is focusing on communication and awareness-raising to enhance producers’ sense of responsibility regarding safety and linked production. It also promotes trade, attracts investment, and builds linkage chains to develop large-scale, traceable, and safe agricultural production, especially in fisheries.

Nguyen Truong Giang, Head of the Dong Nai Sub-Department of Livestock and Fisheries, stated that Dong Nai is the strongest province in southern Vietnam in terms of livestock and aquaculture development. With its dense river network and extensive water surface area, the fisheries sector makes an essential contribution to the province’s GRDP. The sector’s structure is shifting rapidly toward aquaculture, while the share of capture fisheries is decreasing. Intensive and semi-intensive aquaculture is expanding strongly, significantly boosting output.

Ensuring environmental protection for sustainable development

Nevertheless, the development of aquaculture and fisheries is facing significant challenges, particularly environmental pollution associated with production and processing activities. Aquaculture operations and the preliminary processing of aquatic products generate substantial volumes of organic waste, including leftover feed, excreta, and wastewater from cleaning and processing, which can lead to water pollution and declining water quality. This situation has been observed in cage-farming areas along the La Nga River and in other parts of the province. Water pollution in rivers and canals in aquaculture zones is also caused by domestic wastewater from surrounding residential areas and effluent from nearby production facilities, which flow into the system, further complicating the contamination.

“To ensure sustainable fisheries development, aquaculture must shift from traditional production thinking to a circular and green economy approach. Production facilities themselves must take decisive action to replace plastic packaging with environmentally friendly materials and apply technologies for waste treatment. At the same time, the role of communities and religious organizations in restoring aquatic resources should be promoted.”

Environmental protection in aquaculture and seafood processing has consistently received attention and been actively implemented by localities and the agricultural sector in recent years. The province has invested in environmental monitoring systems, with regular monitoring maintained in key farming zones and data frequently updated to provide timely alerts to farmers, helping to prevent disease outbreaks and reduce water pollution. Dong Nai province has also introduced multiple circular aquaculture models that incorporate high technology for environmental treatment in aquaculture operations.

Notably, activities aimed at conserving and restoring aquatic resources have drawn the participation of departments, agencies, sectors, and a large number of citizens. In 2025, more than 500,000 juvenile species, including bagridae, bronze featherback, marble goby, black spotted catfish, and giant freshwater prawn, were released into river basins across the province. These efforts not only help replenish fish populations but also contribute to improving water quality by maintaining ecological balance.

Speaking on green and digital transformation to protect the environment in sustainable aquaculture and seafood processing, Nguyen Truong Giang, Head of the Dong Nai Sub-Department of Livestock and Fisheries, affirmed that the aquaculture sector is expanding biosecurity farming models. The province encourages production facilities to adopt waste treatment processes using biogas and biological products to convert waste into organic fertilizer. It also promotes replacing environmentally harmful materials in aquaculture with sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives. In terms of management and monitoring, the province is accelerating digital transformation by developing a digital map of Dong Nai’s agricultural environment, integrating data from automated monitoring stations into mobile applications so that residents and authorities can track environmental changes in real time, and strengthening post-inspection and enforcement of environmental regulations at large-scale farms and concentrated aquaculture zones. Regarding mechanisms and policies, the Sub-Department of Livestock and Fisheries will propose loan support policies to help aquaculture facilities shift from traditional farming models to high-tech models that meet environmental standards. At the same time, it aims to attract investment in by-product processing and in converting seafood waste into high-value-added products.

By Binh Nguyen – Translated by Thu Hien, Minho