Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issues document urging Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces to resolve bottlenecks in land and investment procedures for shrimp seed production

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued Document No. 12686/BNNMT-TSKN on November 4, 2026, addressed to the Chairmen of the People's Committees of Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces, requesting that difficulties be removed and development promoted for the brackish-water shrimp seed production sector.

In the document, the ministry noted that brackish-water shrimp is one of the pillar categories of Vietnam's seafood exports. In 2025, brackish-water shrimp export value was about US$4.6 billion, accounting for 41% of total seafood export value and 6.6% of total exports of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products. To maintain development momentum and secure raw materials for processing and export, brackish-water shrimp seed production holds particularly important status. In 2025, national shrimp seed output was about 16.8 billion postlarvae, basically meeting domestic demand for commercial shrimp farming.

Among these, the South Central region, especially Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces, has considerable advantages in natural conditions, infrastructure and production experience. The two localities have formed large-scale concentrated seed-rearing areas, supplying about 7 billion shrimp postlarvae annually, accounting for nearly 40% of the country's total shrimp seed output and making a notable contribution to securing seed supply for commercial shrimp farming.

However, according to feedback from enterprises and reports from the Directorate of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance, brackish-water shrimp seed production in the two localities is facing many difficulties and bottlenecks, particularly in planning, land use and investment procedures.

In Lam Dong province, seed-rearing facilities in the Tuy Phong area (now under Vinh Hao commune) face difficulties regarding operating terms and land use plans beyond 2030; the Chi Cong concentrated aquatic seed-rearing area still has bottlenecks in completing land allocation and land lease procedures to advance investment projects.

In Khanh Hoa province, the difficulties are concentrated in the An Hai, Nhon Hai and Son Hai high-tech seed-rearing areas. These areas still have bottlenecks in planning, land use terms and investment procedures, affecting enterprises' ability to maintain operations, renovate, expand and upgrade production facilities.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment assessed that if these bottlenecks are not studied and resolved in a timely manner, they could seriously affect the production and supply capacity of brackish-water shrimp seed. This would not only directly impact the operations of existing seed-rearing facilities but could also weaken the appeal of investment in domestic research, selective breeding and development of high-quality shrimp broodstock.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requested the leaders of the two provinces to give attention and guidance to comprehensively assess the current status and development direction of concentrated brackish-water shrimp seed production areas within their jurisdictions. The review process needs to leverage advantages in natural conditions, infrastructure and existing production capacity, while focusing on arranging and mobilizing investment resources and upgrading technical infrastructure to create conditions for maintaining and developing concentrated production areas in accordance with planning and legal regulations.

One key task required by the ministry is to focus on resolving difficulties and bottlenecks in planning, land allocation, land leasing, extension of land use terms, land recovery and investment procedures for concentrated brackish-water shrimp seed production areas, with priority given to existing problems in the Tuy Phong and Chi Cong areas of Lam Dong province and the An Hai, Nhon Hai and Son Hai areas of Khanh Hoa province.

The document requires localities to study and formulate appropriate solutions within their authority and in accordance with legal regulations, ensuring harmony among the interests of the state, enterprises and the public, with the goal of enabling production facilities to operate stably, continue investing, improve technology and raise shrimp seed quality.

Beyond resolving immediate bottlenecks, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also recommended that the two localities review and improve mechanisms and policies within their authority to encourage and attract enterprises to invest in research, selective breeding and production of high-quality shrimp broodstock and postlarvae; at the same time, advance the application of science and technology and digital transformation in shrimp seed production, and attach importance to implementing biosecurity and disease control measures to improve shrimp seed quality and health, reduce risks in the production process and meet the increasingly higher requirements of commercial shrimp farming. For difficulties and bottlenecks beyond their authority, the ministry requested localities to promptly compile and submit recommendations to competent authorities for study and resolution.