June 4, 2024
Ca Mau, Vietnam to develop biggest local shrimp industry hub
Ca Mau, Vietnam, recently authorised a strategy to grow the shrimp industry from 2021 to 2030, with a long-term goal of making the local sector the largest in the Mekong Delta and Vietnam by 2050, Vietnam Pictorial reported.
According to the Ca Mau provincial People's Committee, this plan will promote suitable production models that use advanced technology to improve productivity, output, and quality, thereby increasing the competitiveness of prawn products, adapting to climate change, and protecting the environment, all of which will benefit farmers, businesses and the economy.
Ca Mau expects prawn exports to reach US$1.4 billion by 2025, US$1.65 billion by 2030, and US$6 billion by 2050.
By 2030, the sector is expected to require an investment of VND 20 trillion (US$785 million).
The plan also includes precise criteria for selecting zones appropriate for each type of aquaculture to develop the shrimp business in a sustainable manner.
Ca Mau created a strategy to increase aquatic processing capacity by implementing current technologies, with the goal of increasing the number of processed goods to 176,000 tonnes by 2030.
It intends to restructure aquatic products to increase the proportion of those with added value to 75 - 80% while decreasing the fraction of semi-processed ones to less than 20 - 25%.
The province plans to sustain old marketplaces while also exploring new and potential ones. It intends that by 2030, shipments to the EU will account for around 17% of its aquatic export turnover, Japan 20%, the US 20%, and China and other markets 43%.
According to data from the Vietnam Fisheries Society, shrimp has long been a staple of both the country's fisheries and agriculture. Each year, it generates over US$4 billion in overseas shipments and accounts for 45-50% of total aquatic exports.
Vietnam is currently one of the world's four largest shrimp producers, alongside Ecuador, India, and Indonesia. Ca Mau has the largest shrimp farming area, around 280,000 ha, compared to its overall aquaculture area of 303,000 ha, with an output of 243,000 tonnes.
- Vietnam Pictorial