Part I

a. Situation Analysis
What is the problem or issue that will be addressed by the project (no more than 1 page)?

The fisheries sector (including aquaculture) has played an important role in the economy of the
country; the sector has ranked third in the league of the key economic sectors of Vietnam. Thats
why government of Vietnam has given high priority for development of fisheries, culture based
fisheries and aquaculture. However, a rapid expansion of the area being utilised for aquaculture
has been difficult to regulate, this has in some cases resulted in the limitation if water resources
for aquaculture, which presents the requirement for change the developmental model of fishery
to achieve the reduction of water resources. In Vietnam, some of fish species aquaculture was
practiced using closed and semi-closed production systems as well as fully recirculated systems
of operation. But the recirculation of water is not necessarily highly intensive. The government
of Vietnam attached great significance to developing the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS)
to achieve high reduction of water supply by employing a water treatment unit, which besides
employing re-aeration and mechanical filtration, at least one biological treatment is used.
However, the development of recirculating aquaculture systems in Vietnam has been stagnant in
recent years. The major constraints for the development of recirculating aquaculture system can
be attributed to numerous factors as follows:
1. Limited knowledge about RAS component interactions (bio-filters, mechanical filters,
energy flows);
2. Poorly understanding of interaction of pathogens and benign microbes in bio-filters;
3. Very few studies on biofilms, biomats, etc.;
4. Needing more modified processes when using new feeds;
5. Lack of predictive modeling to assess multifactor interactions in recirculation system design
and testing.
6. Very few qualified technicians on recirculating system;
7. Lack of fund for scaling up and other research projects;
8. Other reasons.
In terms of global aquaculture production, China is the world leader in aquaculture involved in
farming of large variety of fish species, under different farming systems. Since the reform and
opening up, its aquaculture has developed very fast due to the techniques improvement on seed
production. Regarding sustainable aquaculture development, China has matured important
experience and success stories on recirculation systems to be shared with experts and technicians
from Vietnam. Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences
(FFRC/CAFS) is a national research institution in China. It is of great strength on fishery
research and is having several decades of experience in providing international training in
aquaculture. So far, it has trained above 50 technicians and officers for Vietnam. Its capable of
helping Vietnam to solve the constraints mentioned above.
b. Strategy
What is the country or institutional strategy to deal with the problem or situation above?
Include point on who the project will benefit, i.e. target beneficiaries. (No more than 1
page).
Considering the advanced techniques on recirculating aquaculture systems, China will organize
10-days training for the technicians in Vietnam. Six Chinese experts on RAS from Freshwater
Fisheries Research Center (FFRC) of CAFS will be chosen as resource persons and assigned to
Vietnam to help the technicians improve their techniques and management. Three parts including
class lecture, lab work and technical instruction in RAS will be combined to help technicians to
acquire the basic theory of aquaculture system technology, practical technology and management
pattern. 6 technical officers from Vietnam will be invited to China for 7-days study tour on RAS.
This project will focus on making a valuable contribution to building capacity of technicians
engaged in RAS from the Directorate of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (DF/MOAR), Vietnam. It ultimately contributes to promoting aquaculture
development and improving household food and nutritional security in the country.
Aim at solving the problems and issues mentioned above, experts of FFRC will be devoted to
focusing on:
1. Knowing about the local aquaculture and recirculating aquaculture system information,
giving suggestions about development of new cultured species and RAS modeling;
2. Providing training for technical staff of DF/MOAR on the RAS technologies, including
selection of optimal cultured species, mass seed production, grow-out culture, removal of
suspended solids technology, removal of soluble pollutants, disinfection of water and
aeration technology, etc..
3. Giving some lectures on RAS management and RAS facility design to help technicians to
manage farm better and improve the productivity of RAS;
4. Providing some information of Chinese institutions and enterprises in fishery to promote the
cooperation between Chinese fishery institutions and local RAS farm for the improvement of
RAS facilities or fishery facilities;
5. Attracting more farmers to engage in RAS industry through technical demonstration;
6. Instructing participants to apply for various funds support for RAS;
7. And achieving the goal of improving production and efficiency of RAS in Vietnam;
To guarantee the application of RAS techniques to local aquaculture practices, FFRC experts
will take some measures as following:
Selecting some technical extension officers and aquaculture farmers as participants of
training with the help of DF/MOAR;
Requiring DF/MOAR to establish some demonstration bases for RAS use;
Making address book of local technical extension officers and aquaculture farmers to
facilitate the collection of feedback on the application the RAS techniques
About 40 technical staff from the Directorate of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (DF/MOAR), Vietnam will be the direct target beneficiaries of this project.
Fishermen or farmers in Vietnam would also be the ultimate beneficiaries of the project.