On August 12th, the 2nd meeting of Hai Phong People’s Committee term XVI ratified rules about policies of supporting removal of aquatic products farming facilities in Cat Ba island’s bays.
The rules serves the purpose of planning for aquatic products farming in the direction of reducing and completely removing aquatic products farming facilities in Tra Bau bay, Lan Ha bay, Cat Ba bay and reorganizing places in Ben Beo bay and Ben Gia Luan bay in order to guarantee landscape and environment.
Recently, Hai Phong People’s Committee has required Cat Hai Province People’s Committee to establish supporting contents to those areas. It is considered one of the solutions for solving problems of rafts which is not suitable with planning out of Cat Ba Island. This is expected to thoroughly sort out existing problems, disadvantages between developing aquatic products farming, and conserving, protecting eco-system, natural environment as well as tourism landscape.
Besides, it will make a breakthrough in conserving and protecting environment landscape in bays belonging to Cat Ba island, especially in the core of World Natural Heritage Ha Long bay – Cat Ba archipelago. This is the essential requirements for UNESCO to consider Ha Long bay – Cat Ba archipelago as the World Natural Heritage in 2022.
Hai Phong City will spend more than VND 68.4 billion supporting the removal of aquatic products farming in Cat Ba Islands’s bays. Particularly, supporting rates for infrastructure is VND 19,857,983/hut, for fish farming cage is VND 4,836,000/cage and for mollusk farming floating cage is VND 89,008/ square meter.
For fish farming cages that were dismantled prior to 01/01/2022, supportive grant is VND 25,000/m3, fish farming cages dismantled between 01/01/2022 and 31/12/2022 upportive grant is VND 12,500/m2. Sustained support of livelihood for household member being owner of dismantled aquatic products farming facilities and living on the facilities prior to 01/7/2021, supportive grant is VND 6,580,000/person.
According to Cat Hai District People’s Committee, there are 440 aquatic products farming facilities, with 516 huts, 8.216 cages, 58,790 m2 mollusk farming floating cages and 1,298 people living on the facilities, mainly concentrated in the bays of Cat Ba, Lan Ha, Ben Beo, Tra Bau and Gia Luan. Among them, 371 house Hai Phong registered people, 69 house people from other localities. The aforementioned aquatic products farming facilities affect environmental landscape, conflict to local tourism direction.
In order to well implement above rules as well as support related households to solve problems, Cat Hai Province People’s Committee issued document No. 1556/UBND-KT&HT, requested Hai Phong Economics Zone Authority (HEZA), Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, call for support from other businesses, factories, organizations, businessman in the fields of aquatic-product processing to buy aquatic products from removed houses to reduce obstacles for people in implementation of government’s policies. Besides, requested Department of Industry and Trade to instruct related units, supermarkets, and markets authorities of aquatic products, trading and producing sea products inside and outside the city to support sell and buy products…
Particularly, the total amount of products need to be sold is 2,203,900 kg of fish and 4,204,050 kg of mollusk. Selling price was published, among them, grouper (1,381,430 kg) with price of from 200,000-500,000 VND/kg, cobia 120,000 VND/kg, and Coi fish 130,000 VND/kg, golden fin pomfret 150,000 VND/kg, double siphon clams 60,000 VND/kg, geoduck 250,000 VND/kg...
In the mean time, Hai Phong city plans to develop Cat Ba island to be an eco-tourism center of Vietnam and the globe which focuses on enhancing marine economy; aquatic products and logistical fishery service center of Hai Phong and Northern Viet Nam. Cat Hai island becomes the new cultural areas, modern and essential marine and port service area of the city and areas in Northern Vietnam. Furthermore, until 2025, Hai Phong will have built Cat Ba, Do Son and Ha Long to be international tourism centers and this is the developing expansion and direction of Hai Phong city upon Revolution No. 45 of the Politburo.
THANH SƠN