On July 8, 2026, Khanh Hoa province in south-central Vietnam passed an ordinance to financially support fishers switching marine aquaculture cages made of wood, rafts and foam buoys to new-material cages made of HDPE (high-density polyethylene). Approved by the Provincial People's Council (8th term, 2nd session), the total is about 59.29 billion dong (about JPY 360 million at 10,000 dong = about JPY 60). The plan is to sweep away the old cages, easily broken by typhoons, over four years and rebuild the aquaculture base into one that can withstand export standards. Khanh Hoa is a major production area for tuna, grouper and lobster, and for Japanese seafood buyers it is a move that bears directly on supply stability. Vietnam is, for marine aquaculture, introducing its first national standard and trying to break down the walls of insurance and financing<\/a> and this province-level subsidy can be called a move to bring that current down to the cages on the ground.<\/p>\n The ordinance targets individuals and organizations (cooperatives, production groups) converting cages made of traditional materials -- wooden frames, polystyrene foam buoys, worn-out plastic drums -- to new materials such as HDPE. The application period is the four years from 2026 to 2029, with the goal set of fully converting the province's cages to safe new materials by December 31, 2029.<\/p>\n The subsidy splits into two phases. Phase 1 (2026-2027) allocates about 45.69 billion dong (about JPY 270 million) to support the conversion of about 150 households. Phase 2 (2028-2029) covers about 80 households with 13.6 billion dong (about JPY 80 million). The design stacks the budget thickly in the first half to encourage early switching.<\/p>\n Behind why this subsidy was assembled is the structural problem that old cages are weak against typhoons. By the province's account, the majority of marine aquaculture cages are still made of wood, and their resistance to high waves and strong winds is pointed out as poor.<\/p>\n In fact, Typhoon No. 12 (Damrey) in 2017 and the 2021 storms caused damage on the scale of tens of billions of dong to Khanh Hoa's aquaculture. Small cages assembled from bamboo, wood and iron were swept away overnight, vanishing along with the farmed fish. That blow became the starting point of the idea of changing the material itself. HDPE cages are lightweight and highly rigid, and hard to break even in harsh marine environments. At the demonstration farm in Van Phong Bay there is a track record of withstanding a direct hit from Damrey, and the effect of material conversion is backed up on the ground.<\/p>\n A feature is that the subsidy rate is graded by the offshore distance of the waters farmed. Because the cost and risk of a cage rise the farther offshore you go, you can read an intent to concentrate a thicker subsidy there to push offshore expansion.<\/p>\nWhat is in the subsidy ordinance the province passed<\/h2>\n
The limits of wooden cages, and the lesson of 2017<\/h2>\n
The subsidy rate is more generous the farther offshore<\/h2>\n