📋 Tender Overview
The aquaculture industry in the Northern region is facing the need to strongly transform towards modernity, sustainability and added value. One of the great potentials that has not been exploited effectively, the reason lies in the reservoir system. Opening up space from aquaculture on reservoirs According to Mr. Nhu Van Can, Deputy Director of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in recent years, aquaculture in the Northern provinces (from Thua Thien Hue outward) has maintained a stable growth rate. In 2025, the farming area will reach about 309 thousand hectares, accounting for 23% of the country, output will reach about 1.3 million tons, equivalent to 21% of the total national aquaculture output. Although the export proportion is not large, this area still plays an important role in ensuring food security, serving domestic consumption needs and creating livelihoods for millions of workers. The farming species is quite diverse, from brackish water shrimp, freshwater fish such as tilapia, traditional fish, to specialty species, cold water fish (sturgeon, salmon) and marine farming species such as grouper, sea bass, pompano, bivalve molluscs. However, according to the assessment of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection, the transition from small-scale production to commodity production still faces many difficulties. Production is still scattered and small-scale, mainly carried out by individual households, lacking close links in the value chain. This makes the productivity, quality and added value of the product not commensurate with the potential. Although marine farming has had its beginnings, the scale is still limited and the technology is not synchronized. Infrastructure and support services, from transportation, water supply and drainage to seed systems, feed and product consumption, are still weak. The lack of connection in the supply chain causes high production costs and reduced competitiveness. In addition, management still has many shortcomings, especially the lack of database on farming zoning and environmental carrying capacity assessment. The overlap in management between industries and fields is also a major barrier to attracting investment and organizing large-scale production. Meanwhile, one of the great potentials that has not been exploited effectively lies in the reservoir system. Vietnam currently has about 6,750 irrigation lakes with a total capacity of 14.5 billion m3 and more than 700 hydroelectric lakes, bringing the total capacity of the entire system to over 50 billion m3. Reservoirs are widely distributed, especially in the Northern and North Central mountainous regions, not only serving electricity generation and water supply but also being a large resource for developing aquaculture, eco-tourism and accompanying services. However, the exploitation is still spontaneous, lacking planning and control. In order to effectively exploit this potential, on March 2, 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued Decision No. 707/QD-BNNMT approving the project to develop reservoir aquaculture for the period 2026-2030. The project aims to achieve an output of more than 260,000 fish by 2030. tons/year, worth about 16,000 billion VND. Of which, cage farming accounts for more than 190,000 tons, direct farming accounts for more than 70,000 tons. At the same time, creating jobs for more than 80,000 workers, with over 30% being ethnic minorities. Notably, more than 50% of farming facilities will join cooperative groups, cooperatives or chain links; 100% of facilities update data to the national management system. Part of the cage farming facility will apply VietGAP standards or equivalent, using environmentally friendly materials. Download Aquaculture is determined to be a sustainable and effective development direction in the coming time - Photo: VGP/Do Huong Shaping a green, sustainable value chain The project clearly defines the orientation for developing reservoir aquaculture in an effective, sustainable direction, in harmony with other water use goals and ecosystem protection. In particular, the focus is on building a complete value chain from farming, exploitation to processing and consumption. Developing linked chains not only helps improve productivity and quality but also minimize risks for farmers, in accordance with the spirit of harmonious benefits, shared risks that the Minister emphasized. Farming forms will be diversified, suitable to the ecological conditions of each region, from cage farming, free-range farming to ecological farming. At the same time, the seed, food and material production system will be developed on the spot, giving priority to indigenous species, associated with the chain of links. Infrastructure and support services will also be invested synchronously in concentrated production areas. Another important direction is to develop markets and build brands for reservoir aquatic products through applying quality standards, geographical indications and promoting trade promotion. At the 2025 seafood export summary ceremony organized by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien said that in 2025, the total Seafood output reached about 9.95 million tons - the highest level ever. Export turnover reached 11.32 billion USD, not including about 250 million USD from fishmeal. Notably, the business community has shown flexible adaptability when quickly shifting market direction, expanding to China, Europe and Africa in the context of fluctuations in the US market. With this foundation and three pillars of development includingDigital transformation - science and technology, green - circular economy and increasing added value, the seafood industry aims to achieve an export turnover of 14-16 billion USD by 2030. According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, in addition to key products such as shrimp a
