{"id":1566,"date":"2026-09-25T14:08:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/industry_news\/oc-huong-japan\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T14:08:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:08:46","slug":"oc-huong-japan","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/oc-huong-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam's whelk farming reaches 6,200 tonnes a year: can it be used for Japan's shellfish sourcing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vietnamese fisheries specialist media tepbac, on September 24, 2026, summarized \u1ed1c h\u01b0\u01a1ng (oc huong, scientific name Babylonia areolata<\/strong>) farming reaching the 6,000-tonne-a-year class over 25 years (author Kim Tien). A sea snail that had relied on wild harvesting changed into an object that can be farmed systematically through artificial seed production, and Ministry of Science and Technology data records over 6,200 tonnes a year as of 2024 as well.<\/p>\n

There are two points Japanese shellfish buyers should grasp first: the name, and the way the volume grows. The shellfish called \"bai\" in Japan is a different species of the same genus, and corresponds to a species the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare advises against eating. Volume expanded rapidly from 2002 to 2012, then stayed in the 6,000-tonne range for the 12 years from 2012 to 2024. It is not a supply source where you can pile up volume all at once but a counterparty for pinning down specifications and bundling small lots.<\/p>\n

A shellfish that relied on wild harvesting turned into a farmed product over 25 years<\/h2>\n

Research in 1998-2000 closed the loop of seed production<\/h3>\n

According to the source article, in the late 1990s the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 3 (Vien Nghien cuu Nuoi trong Thuy san III) began research on the artificial propagation and farming of \u1ed1c h\u01b0\u01a1ng. A project by Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu and others was carried out in 1998-2000, linking in one continuous chain the maturation management of parent snails, egg collection and hatching, larval rearing, settlement, and intermediate rearing. If the volume of wild seed collected from the sea holds the upper limit, farming area cannot be expanded systematically.<\/p>\n

Khanh Hoa went from a place of research to a seed-production cluster<\/h3>\n

The source article says the Khanh Hoa coast, including Van Ninh, Ninh Hoa, and Cam Ranh, accepted seed production and farming early. Farming then spread to Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen, and Binh Thuan.<\/p>\n

Seed grew over 1,000-fold in 10 years; from there, 12 years have not moved from the 6,000-tonne range<\/h2>\n

\"1,578 t\u1ef7\" is not 1.578 trillion but 1.578 billion<\/h3>\n

In the Ministry of Science and Technology \/ Information and Statistics Department data the source article cites, 2002 seed production was about 1 million individuals, farming area about 1.7 ha, and production about 8 tonnes. By 2012, seed reached about 1.578 billion a year, area about 694 ha, and production 6,047 tonnes.<\/p>\n

Here one trips on Vietnamese digit notation. In the original, 1,578 t\u1ef7 con has the comma as a decimal point and t\u1ef7 as a billion, so 1.578 x a billion =1.578 billion individuals<\/strong>. Read the comma as a thousands separator and make it 1.578 trillion, and you are off by 1,000-fold. The source article's own section heading reads \"from 1 tri\u1ec7u con gi\u1ed1ng (1 million) to h\u01a1n 1,5 t\u1ef7 con (over 1.5 billion),\" and the body too says seed grew more than 1,000-fold. Conversely, 6.047 t\u1ea5n has the period as a thousands separator, so 6,047 tonnes, not 6.047 tonnes. Within the same article, comma and period play opposite roles.<\/p>\n

Production per unit area nearly doubled in 10 years<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/th>\nSeed production<\/th>\nFarming area<\/th>\nOutput<\/th>\nPer unit area<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
2002<\/td>\nAbout 1 million individuals<\/td>\nAbout 1.7 ha<\/td>\nAbout 8 tonnes<\/td>\nAbout 4.7 tonnes\/ha<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2012<\/td>\nAbout 1.578 billion individuals (1,578 t\u1ef7 con)<\/td>\nAbout 694 ha<\/td>\n6,047 tonnes (6.047 t\u1ea5n)<\/td>\nAbout 8.7 tonnes\/ha<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024<\/td>\nNot stated<\/td>\nNot stated<\/td>\nOver 6,200 tonnes<\/td>\nCannot be calculated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Per-unit-area is this article's calculation. Seed grew over 1,000-fold, area about 408-fold. Meanwhile, 2012's 6,047 tonnes and 2024's over 6,200 tonnes are nearly flat over 12 years. The source article cites these two points in separate places, with no years in between. Grounds for treating it as a production area growing by double digits every year do not come out of this article.<\/p>\n

3.6 tonnes on 4,500 m\u00b2: the figures Ninh Thuan's three-stage farming produced<\/h2>\n

80% survival; profit 26% higher than the control plot of the same trial<\/h3>\n

The demonstration the source article cites is a three-stage farming model conducted in 2022 by the Ninh Thuan Province Agricultural Extension Center. Rather than rearing straight through to harvest, it splits the process. In about 6 months, 80% survival, production of about 3.6 tonnes on 4,500 m\u00b2, and profit reported as 26% higher than the model's control plot. This 26% is not a difference from the industry average but a difference against the comparison plot of the same trial.<\/p>\n

To put together 100 tonnes a year works out to gathering 28 pond-cycles<\/h3>\n

4,500 m\u00b2 = 0.45 ha produces 3.6 tonnes, so about 8 tonnes\/ha per unit area. One crop of about 6 months is close to 2012's national annual average of 8.7 tonnes\/ha. A 100-tonne-a-year slot takes about 28 crops' worth (100 divided by 3.6, this article's calculation); even cycling two crops a year, 14 ponds' worth are needed. Con Dao's 100-ha sea-surface farming slot<\/a> touched on as well, securing a plot and knowing how many tonnes come out in a given month are separate matters.<\/p>\n

In Khanh Hoa in 2018, over 60% of 110 households went into the red from seed die-offs<\/h2>\n

Dividing the seed-rearing cost by the number of individuals gives 30 dong per individual<\/h3>\n

That seed has increased as volume and that the seed in a pond survives to the harvest day are separate problems. In a February 2018 article in the same tepbac (source Bao Khanh Hoa, author Bich La), in the Ninh Phuoc area of Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa Province, a seed producer who had just recovered from the damage of Typhoon No. 12 suffered mass die-offs of snails right before shipment. Over 60% of 110 households in the Ninh Tinh area were in the same situation, and inspection found strong bacterial infection.<\/p>\n

Nguyen Duc Dung reared 5 million individuals for 150 million dong (150 tri\u1ec7u \u0111\u1ed3ng) and lost them 10 days before handover, and Ngo Dinh Duc lost 10 million individuals that cost 300 million dong (300 tri\u1ec7u \u0111\u1ed3ng) 7 days before shipment. Divided by the number of individuals, both come to 30 dong per individual, but this is the seed-rearing side's invested cost, not the seed's selling unit price nor the unit price of the commercial snail.<\/p>\n

Farming that relies on live feed finds it hard to show the feed's origin in writing<\/h3>\n

The source article raises, as a challenge as of 2024, the point that Ministry of Science and Technology data notes that most commercial-snail farming depends on live feed, making organic matter, bottom quality, and disease hard to manage. \u1ed1c h\u01b0\u01a1ng is carnivorous, and fresh fish, shrimp, and bivalves were long the mainstay. Formulated feed is at the stage where research using domestic ingredients has begun, and the recirculating type is at the stage where a Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 3-affiliated body led it as a Ministry of Science and Technology national project in 2020-2023; it has not been replaced at commercial scale.<\/p>\n

For the sourcing side, dependence on live feed appears as a documentation problem before a quality one. Unable to show the feed's origin and feeding records, you get stuck in both certification audits and explaining sourcing criteria. In shrimp, the example where a Ca Mau cooperative obtained ASC certification<\/a> as, a pattern of bundling small producers to pass through developed first. Shellfish exports themselves, the eight-month results where crab and shellfish grew<\/a> as, are growing.<\/p>\n

What the Japanese side confirms first is the scientific name, the transaction stage, and the production area's address<\/h2>\n

The shellfish called \"bai\" in Japan is a different species, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare advises against eating it<\/h3>\n

Getting the name wrong is dangerous. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's natural-toxin risk profile \"Sea snails: pufferfish toxin\" lists, as a toxic species causing poisoning in Japan, the bai of the family Buccinidae Babylonia japonica<\/strong> , and states that because removing the toxic part is difficult, not eating this species leads to poisoning prevention (it also lists poisoning records from Teradomari, Niigata in 1957 and Sakajiri, Fukui in 1980). The same series' \"Sea snails: salivary-gland toxin (tetramine)\" targets the genus Neptunea (whelk), for which prevention is said to be possible by removing the salivary gland, and it writes that in some regions the genus Neptunea is called aka-bai and the separate-genus Buccinum called shiro-bai. The Japanese name \"bai\" is used across genera.<\/p>\n

Vietnam's \u1ed1c h\u01b0\u01a1ng is a different species of the same genus Babylonia B. areolata<\/strong> , and there is no description of B. areolata on these two pages. However, the absence of a description is not confirmation of non-toxicity. In a feeding trial a National Taiwan University group published in the journal Toxicon in 1998, when bivalves that had eaten toxic plankton were given to B. areolata, paralytic shellfish toxin (gonyautoxin) transferred and was detected only in the viscera. Because it is a carnivorous snail, what it eats rides into its viscera. In the trade, put the scientific name and the local name side by side in writing, and confirm all the way to whether the form has the viscera removed and the production area's shellfish-toxin monitoring. Lean on the single word \"bai snail\" and it will be read as the imported product being the same as the species the Japanese name refers to.<\/p>\n

Mix pond-landing, processing-plant delivery, and FOB, and the unit-price comparison falls apart<\/h3>\n

The source article does not touch on unit price. Fix first which transaction stage the figure the counterparty gives is from<\/strong>. Pond-landing (delivery at the farming pond), processing-plant delivery, export FOB, and the Japanese wholesale price are different figures for the same goods, and lining up things from different stages to calculate a multiple breaks the premise.<\/p>\n

Ninh Thuan and Phu Yen are now part of Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak<\/h3>\n

The production-area names the source article lists are, as administrative divisions, already inside different provinces. Khanh Hoa Province's official site lists Do Vinh and Phan Rang in the former Ninh Thuan Province area as its own province's administrative units, and Dak Lak Province's official site handles the South Phu Yen economic zone. Verify production-area certificates, factory registrations, and origin labeling against the province names as of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item to confirm<\/th>\nThe form to have the counterparty provide<\/th>\nPoints easily confused<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Name<\/td>\nList Babylonia areolata and \u1ed1c h\u01b0\u01a1ng together<\/td>\nJapan's \"bai\" refers to a different species<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Trading stage<\/td>\nState clearly which of pond-landing \/ processing-plant delivery \/ export FOB<\/td>\nCalculating a multiple with figures from different stages<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Form and viscera<\/td>\nLive snail \/ frozen boiled meat \/ shell-on frozen, and whether the viscera are removed<\/td>\nParalytic shellfish toxin gathers in the viscera<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Supply volume<\/td>\nTonnage per pond and per month<\/td>\nThe nationwide 6,200 tonnes is the total of domestic consumption and export, not one company's volume<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Feed<\/td>\nLive feed or formulated feed, and whether feeding records exist<\/td>\nThe feed's origin is asked in certification audits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The next step is to have one pond's 6 months provided month by month<\/h2>\n

The first request fits on one sheet<\/h3>\n

There is something to request before negotiations. For one specific pond: the monthly shipment tonnage of the most recent crop (about 6 months), the composition by size, the survival rate, the type of feed and whether records exist, and which stage the quoted unit price is from. If a counterparty can produce these five items on one sheet, you can advance to talk of collection bundling dozens of ponds. What was solved over 25 years is the seed problem, and the source article too says the challenge on the side of carrying the pond's seed to the harvest day remains. The room to step in lies not in volume but in whether you can find a counterparty who can manage that remainder in writing.<\/p>\n

Materials referenced in this article<\/h3>\n