In Nha Trang in central Vietnam, aquaculture experts from about 20 Asian countries gathered. The 8th International Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia (CAA8), held at Nha Trang University from July 15 to 18, 2026, set as its theme \"green and smart cage aquaculture\" and put technologies such as HDPE (high-density polyethylene) cages, IoT environmental monitoring, and AI-driven automatic feeding at center stage. Vietnam's sea-surface farming is trying to shift its footing from catching a lot to raising cleanly and uniformly; for Japanese seafood buyers, this is a sign that the quality of sourced goods will change over several years.<\/p>\n
CAA8 was hosted by the Asian Fisheries Society and co-hosted by Nha Trang University, Shanghai Ocean University, the China-ASEAN joint research base for marine aquaculture technology, and others. Participants numbered 250, of whom roughly 150 came from overseas, with about 20 countries represented. During the session period, panels were organized on technological innovation, breeding improvement, nutrition, environmental sustainability, and fish-disease management, and new fields such as offshore farming systems, selective breeding, AI, IoT, carbon neutrality, and value-chain management also came up for discussion.<\/p>\n
Liu Liping, president of the Asian Fisheries Society, said Vietnam is showing \"remarkable progress\" in introducing advanced technology into offshore farming. The choice of Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa Province), the center of central Vietnam's sea-surface farming, as the venue is likely because this land leads in the implementation of offshore farming.<\/p>\n
Behind the conference is Vietnam's national strategy for sea-surface farming toward 2030. On the principles of \"transparency, responsibility, and sustainability,\" the direction is to shift to large-scale, industrial, environmentally conscious farming with advanced technology, with targets nationwide of 300,000 hectares of farming area, 12 million cubic meters of cage volume, 1.45 million tonnes of production, and US$1.8-2 billion a year in exports.<\/p>\n
Running at the front is Khanh Hoa Province. The province has set a target of converting conventional cages to 100% HDPE cages and offshore industrial farming by 2030, and aims within the province for 1,500 hectares of sea-surface farming, 30,000 tonnes of production, and US$1 billion in exports. Off Nha Trang, at Hon Noi and Dam Bay, fishers began raising sea-surface fish 6 nautical miles offshore, a first in the country. CAA8 became a venue for bringing together the next technologies on this land where implementation is advancing.<\/p>\n
Lining up the national targets with the targets of front-running Khanh Hoa Province shows what scale Vietnam is aiming for.<\/p>\n