After Typhoon Yagi (early September 2024), many aquaculture areas in Van Don were severely damaged. The local government has re-planned the farming area and temporarily handed over the water surface so that people can soon restore production. However, after a year of reconstruction, during the harvest season, oyster prices dropped again and output was unstable.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Ngo Van Ket, Director of Doan Ket Aquaculture Cooperative Thang Loi (Cong Tay village, Van Don) said: The biggest "bottleneck" that causes oyster prices to decrease is because the products have no traceability and are not eligible for export.
Our cooperative's milk oysters have been present in the Dubai market through an intermediary company with a selling price of about 300,000 VND/kg and are highly appreciated for their quality. However, long-term export cannot be carried out due to the lack of Certificate of Origin (C/O) and Certificate of Quality (CQ). To have these certificates, it is necessary to have an official decision to allocate the sea area from the State agency, but many cooperatives have not yet been granted these documents, said Mr. Ket.
According to the Project for developing marine aquaculture of Van Don Special Zone, the locality has more than 23,800 hectares of marine aquaculture area with 91 farming areas. By October 2025, 142 enterprises and cooperatives in the area had registered to hand over marine aquaculture areas. However, only 7/14 enterprises and 7/128 cooperatives have been licensed by the Provincial People's Committee to assign marine areas; many units are still in the process of completing documents, measuring and confirming the boundaries of farming areas.
To remove difficulties for aquaculture households, the Party Committee of Van Don Special Zone organized a dialogue conference with aquaculture cooperatives to listen to and resolve recommendations on procedures for assigning sea areas and finding solutions to increase the value of oysters.
At the conference, representatives of cooperatives and households admitted that due to the quality of oyster varieties not being guaranteed, the high density of farming has affected the growth rate and size of oysters during harvest, when the quality is not guaranteed, causing oyster prices to decrease.
The cost of hiring a consulting unit to prepare documents to request water surface delivery is still high, causing difficulties for many households. People want to reduce part of the cost of water rental for aquaculture according to Decree 46/2014/ND-CP of the Government.
According to aquaculture experts, raising high-density oysters and prolonging harvest time makes oyster intestines small, affecting product quality. Van Don needs to review and limit the appropriate farming density, and at the same time study to develop local oyster breeding units.
Mr. Cao Tuong Huy, Party Secretary, Chairman of the People's Council of Van Don Special Zone, suggested that cooperatives focus resources to avoid spreading, focusing on applying science and technology in care and harvesting to ensure product quality. At the same time, assign specialized agencies to research and develop local aquaculture standards, establish production agents, and provide breeds of clear origin.
