Ben Tre to achieve 300,000 MT of aquaculture production by 2020

Accordingly, the total output of harvested aquaculture is estimated at 281,000 MT, reaching over 102% of the year plan and up 3.7% compared to 2018. In particular, marine shrimp production accounted for a high rate of farming reached 78 % of total aquaculture area.

Ben Tre Sub-department of Fisheries said that it is expected that in 2020, the total area of aquaculture will reach 47,000 ha. In particular, brackish and saltwater aquaculture area will be 40,200 ha, of which marine shrimp farming will made up 35,000 ha. The total aquaculture production is estimated at 300,000 MT. In particular, marine shrimp production will hit 62,000 MT.

In recent years, Ben Tre fisheries economy has developed strongly and become a key economic sector of Ben Tre. In 2018 alone, Ben Tre's fishery production value accounted for 51.56% the value of agriculture, forestry and fishery sector.

Marine shrimp farming in Ben Tre has developed strongly. The province has established specialized farming areas (super-intensive farming area with 2-stage farming) with about 11,500 hectares concentrated in 3 coastal districts and 25.000 ha of extensive shirmp farming area. These are favorable area for developing the model of high-quality ecological shrimp farming. Moreover, technical skills of farmers are increasingly improved, the product quality gradually meets the requirements of processing for exports.

In addition, producing aquatic breeds is also encouraged to expand by Ben Tre's specialized authority. Currently, Ben Tre province has over 70 seed production establishments resided in 3 concentrated seed production zones in Binh Dai and Thanh Phu districts. In addition, Ben Tre also has over 3,900 registered fishing vessels with the average capacity of 340HP/unit; of which, offshore fishing vessels have over 2,000 units with the average capacity of 576 HP/unit. Total fishing output in 2018 reached about 210,000 MT.

According to the fisheries development orientation of Ben Tre province by 2030, the farming area of the province will reach 50,000 ha and farming output will hit 405,000 MT; registered fishing vessels reach 3,550 vessels with 2,240 offshore fishing vessels; fishing output will touch 210,000 MT. To achieve the goal, Ben Tre is focusing on infrastructure investment and fishery logistics by taking advantage of the capital investment in infrastructure for aquaculture development, of which the province will concentrate on completing infrustructure system for concentrated aquaculture areas, hi-tech shrimp farming areas.