Status of Hard Clam Farming in Some Coastal Provinces of North and Northern Central Vietnam

Hard clam farming in coastal provinces of North and Northern Central Vietnam has notably developed since last decade and this activity generates high income source for farmers, improving socio-economic development of many local communities. However, many farms are facing with difficulties due to frequent occurrence of massive death of cultured clam, lack of capital and unstable market for clam product. This study, therefore, investigated status of hard clam farming in some coastal provinces of North and Northern Central Vietnam in order to provide basic information for building technical and management solutions, contributing to stable development of hard clam farming in Vietnam. The results showed that Thai Binh province has the highest hard clam farming areas as well as clam production (1,984 ha, 30,130 tons), followed by Nam Dinh (1,271 ha, 5,123 tons), Thanh Hoa (960 ha, 7,700 tons), Quang Ninh (1,271 ha, 5,123 tons), and Ha Tinh (200 ha, 2,800 tons). About 84.1% surveyed farmers reported that their farms had at least one time of massive death of cultured clam and only 15.9% surveyed farms did not suffer with massive hard clam death. Even though the massive death of cultured clam may happen at any time, it usually occurs from February to May each year. Most of surveyed farmers supposed that changes in temperature, salinity and the decline of water quality were the main reasons for massive hard clam death in recent years. Lack of capital and unstable market are main constraints that most farms encounter with and require support from the government.