Vietnam has a very high potential for aquaculture development. The sector has significantly developed and contributed to food security, poverty alleviation and the economy of the country and belongs to the top 10 of the world in fisheries production. In 2015, the aquaculture industry obtained million ha in cultured area, 3,553 million tons in production which accounted for of the total fisheries production. | Journal of Fisheries science and Technology - 2016 MARINE FINFISH FARMING IN VIET NAM: CURRENT STATUS AND DIRECTIONS Tran Van Dung1, Pham Quoc Hung1, Nguyen Tien Thong2 Received: 02/6/2016; Revised: 18/8/2016; Accepted: 26/9/2016 ABSTRACT Vietnam has a very high potential for aquaculture development. The sector has significantly developed and contributed to food security, poverty alleviation and the economy of the country and belongs to the top 10 of the world in fisheries production. In 2015, the aquaculture industry obtained million ha in cultured area, 3,553 million tons in production which accounted for of the total fisheries production. The marine farming in Vietnam has been developing in the recent years, with an increase in areas, productivity, and values. The marine species are mainly cultured in floating cages under small scales or family - managed systems and a few medium scales. Barramundi, cobia, pompano, groupers, and snapper are the main cultured species in both brackish and marine water. The main cultured areas concentrated on Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa and Vung Tau. Seed supply of several species has come from artificial propagation. Trashfish has still been the main feed sources although many kinds of commercial feed have become available in the market. Fish biomass is from 7 - 20 kg/m3 depending on species and stocking density. In order to develop the marine finfish farming industry sustainably, Vietnam has to overcome several key obstacles and challenges such as shortage of quality seeds, formulated feed for target species, culture technological improvement, disease and environmental control, and stable market. Keywords: Marine farming, marine finfish, aquaculture system, Vietnam I. OVERVIEW With a long coastline of more than 3,260 km including a large number of islands, lagoons, and gufts, Vietnam has a high potential for fisheries and aquaculture development. This is the home for more than 2,000 fish species of which around 40 .
