December 29, 2010

Vietnam hopes to increase seafood exports

The southernmost Vietnamese province of Ca Mau hopes to increase seafood exports by 11.8% next year to US$850 million, local officials said.

In order to reach the target, the province will handle the present raw-material shortage by zoning 10,000 hectares for breeding tiger prawns by 2015.

By next year, it will also enlarge the area under prawn farming from 1,500-2800 hectares.

It will also continue to promote various prawn-farming models like extensive farming and rice-shrimp cultivation, organic farming, and others, and advanced technologies to increase output.

Ca Mau has 34 seafood processing plants with a total capacity of 150,000 tonnes annually, of which 31 of them specialise in prawns.

The majority of them use modern technologies that match international standards and trade with partners in 40 countries and territories.

While continuing to focus on major products and key markets, the province also hopes to diversify its export markets, products, and trading methods. As a result, it will continue to explore new markets, especially those that import a large variety of seafood products next year.

Processing plants' output this year was 93,000 tonnes, an increase of 10.5% in contrast to last year, with shrimp accounting for 83,000 tonnes.