Khanh Hoa to extend sea bass firm’s water surface rent to 2043

Khanh Hoa will extend barramundi (Asian sea bass) farming firm Australis Aquaculture Vietnam Limited’s water surface rent of 184 hectares to 2043, said the south-central province's Party chief.

While visiting the Australis Vietnam headquarters in Van Phong-Van Ninh Bay early this week, Secretary of Khanh Hoa's Party Committee Nguyen Hai Ninh added that the province would back the company's project of developing local aquaculture and tourism.

Australis Vietnam is among the biggest sea bass firms in the world with an annual output of 10,000 tons a year and a distribution chain of over 5,000 stores in the world. The firm currently farms eight million fishlings and expects an output of 15,000 tons in 2024.

The U.S.-headquartered firm has invested over $200 million in Khanh Hoa to develop seafish farming at industrial scale, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said last month. He added that Vietnam aims to have 300,000 hectares of sea for seafish farming at industrial scale in 2030, with an output of 1.5 million tons.

Barramundi has high economic value with prices between VND170,000-180,000 ($6.8-7.3) per kilogram in the week between November 11-18, according to the Vietnam Associaion of Seafood Exporters and Producers.