Da Nang has made efforts to boost its blue economy development in recent years (Photo: VNA) Da Nang (VNA) – As a coastal citywith considerable sea-related advantages, Da Nang has created breakthroughpolicies to boost its blue economy development associated with marinesovereignty safeguarding.
The central city of Da Nang is home to anover-70km-long coastline, a fishing ground of 15,000sq.km, and fishery reservesof about 1.14 million tonnes.
Deputy Director of the municipal Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Do Tam said that over the 10 years ofrealising Vietnam’s Maritime Strategy, Da Nang has successfully summonedresources to develop its sea-based economy with a focus on support policies forthe fishing community.
Aside from the Government’s support, Da Nang hasissued its own “breakthrough” policies to support fishermen over the past fewyears, including those on managing inshore fishing activities, developingoffshore fishing fleets, and protecting and developing fishery resources.
These policies have encouraged fishermen toupgrade and build boats for offshore fishing, thus helping to improve thequality and value of local seafood, he noted.
In 2012, the municipal administration issuedDecision No.7068/QD-UBND on policies assisting the industry with building newfishing supply boats. This was considered a “breakthrough” decision and a“revolution”, helping to change the structure of the local offshore fishingfleet.
Under this decision, fishermen received 500 millionVND (21,400 USD) in cash to support them in building a new boat with the capacityof between 400CV and under 600CV; 600 million VND (25,700 USD) for building aboat with a capacity ranging from 600CV to under 800CV; and 800 million VND(34,200 USD) for building a boat of over 800CV.
There have been 84 boats built under this decisionso far, with total financial aid of more than 66 billion VND (2.8 million USD),raising the number of boats with the capacity of over 90CV to 583 – a three-fold rise from 2010.
Tam added that to capitalise on local advantagesand opportunities in the market, the city’s fishing sector is working toimprove the fishing community’s access to capital, while improving theiroffshore fishing skills and the competiveness of processed seafood. Between2016 and 2020, the sector has been focusing on restructuring the fishing fleetand keeping the catch stable.
Da Nang is also developing vessels supplyingfisheries logistic services so as to raise the number of logistics vehicles to15 by 2020 and 50 by 2030.
It looks to increase the caught seafood volumeto 38,000 tonnes by 2020 and 45,000 tonnes by 2030, the official said.
Apart from the aforementioned support policies,the city plans to press on with others to protect and ease the fishing pressureon inshore aquatic resources. It will also further assist fishermen in seafoodstorage to minimise losses after catching.
In September 2017, the city approved a plan ondeveloping its sea-based economy towards 2025, with a vision to 2030.Accordingly, it has set a target for the tourist number growth rate at about 13percent between 2016 and 2030, and the volume of cargo handled at localseaports at 12-13 percent by 2025. It also looks to have the output of processedseafood for export rising by 12-13 percent by 2025 and 8-10 percent by 2030.
Concrete activities are being carried out tocreate new tourism products relating to marine sports and the yacht industry, toperfect coastal tourism infrastructure, and to enhance knowledge amongst tourguides on marine sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the city is also working to turn DaNang Port into an international gateway with the Tien Sa and Lien Chieuterminals. Tien Sa terminal will specialise in serving passenger ships andcruises, while Lien Chieu terminal will serve cargo transportation.
Resources are being spent on raising thecapacity of the local fishery surveillance force, improving the informationsystem for the management of fisheries, and promoting contact with fishingboats to ensure safety for vehicles and workers at sea.
Seafood processing companies have also beenencouraged to apply cleaner production technologies to reduce waste, savematerials and energy, and effectively treat sources of pollution.
Total capital needed for developing sea-basedeconomy is estimated at over 19 trillion VND (813 million USD) for 2017-2020,13 trillion VND (556.3 million USD) for 2021-2025, and 17 trillion VND (727.4million USD) for 2026-2030. –VNA
VNA
