aquaculture 10 03 02
VNA
MEKONG DELTA STRIVES TO BECOME
BIGGEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN AQUATIC PRODUCER BY 2005
Can Tho, Mar. 9 (VNA) -- The Mekong
delta is striving to become the biggest aquatic producer in Southeast Asia by
2005.
The delta is forecast to net 1.8 million tonnes of aquatic products,
including more than 250,000 tonnes of shrimp, making up 60 percent of the
country's total aquatic output netted. The country's largest delta is expected
to raise its aquatic output to more than 2 million tonnes, including 400,000
tonnes of shrimp, or 53 percent of the total.
The Prime Minister in November last year set a target of expanding
the Mekong delta's aquaculture area to more than 700,000ha, its netted output to
1.7 million tonnes, and its export earnings to more than USD 1.5 billion or half
of the country's total aquatic product value by 2005.
Mekong delta provinces have been carrying out 65 medium and
large-scale projects on infrastructure development, covering the construction of
irrigation, dyke, sewage and pumping station networks, for the fisheries sector.
An additional 11 fishing ports will be built in the provinces of Ca
Mau, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh. The biggest port,
located in Ben Tre province, is capable of accommodating fishing vessels up to
200,000 tonnes in weight.
The southernmost province of Ca Mau is the delta's leading aquatic
producer. It is striving to catch 225,000 tonnes of aquatic products, including
80,000 tonnes of shrimp, this year (a year-on-year increase of 13,500 tonnes).
There are 77 aquatic product processing establishments with a
combined capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year operating in the delta. A large number
of the processing factories are located in Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Can
Tho and Bac Lieu provinces. Eighty-five percent of aquatic products for export
have been processed locally.
The Government has approved a plan to build four new processing
establishments with a combined capacity of 60,000 tonnes/year in An Giang and
Tra Vinh provinces, and to upgrade seven others in Vinh Long, Bac Lieu and Can
Tho provinces.
Moreover, a shrimp market and a fish market will be built in Bac
Lieu and Kien Giang provinces, respectively.
There are also fourteen large-scale projects to expand 10
refrigeration factories and construct four factories specialising in fishing
equipment as well as fish and shrimp feed in An Giang, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Ca
Mau, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang and Bac Lieu provinces.
The region earned almost USD 2.5 billion from aquatic product
exports in the 1996-2000 period. The figure made up 52 percent of the country's
total aquatic product value.--VNA