After launching an economic restructuring programme in 2001, Ca Mau Province has been spearheaded to become the top seafood exporter in the Mekong Delta by 2010, as it battles shortages of raw materials and dryspells.
The restructuring programme in this southernmost province, according to Pham Van Duc, the director of the local Fisheries Department, has seen the upgrade of its fishing ports and services this year. Authorities also actively allocated investments into shrimp and freshwater fish farming and have initiated modern techniques for production capacity and quality. Moreover, the province has focused more towards expanding its farming areas and processing services.
These measures have caused a shift in the majority of Ca Mau's economic livelihood from crop farming into fisheries especially in the shrimp and fish farming sectors, as well as seafood processing.
Ca Mau has 26 seafood processing plants with a total capacity of 102,000 tonnes, and most carry international certificates for quality, food sanitation, and food safety requirements put forth by the Ministry of Fisheries.
Adverse weather conditions, however, tend to unleash a series of obstacles for the aquaculture sector, including impact on its irrigation systems, as well as causing diseases in shrimp and catfish farms. These conditions, coupled with a severe lack of raw materials and funds to develop aquaculture and prevent pollution nonetheless have not had a negative impact on the the province's seafood industry as it speedily becoming a hub for the nation's industry, Vietnam Economic Times reports.
The province is slated to allocate VND 20 billion (USD 1.2 million) from its budget to upgrade irrigation systems for fish and shrimp from a total of VND 4 trillion (USD 250 million).
Many deem that the fisheries sector needs to be revamped. With a fleet of 3,500 vessels, measures are needed to up the deep-sea fishery to increase catch volumes.
Targeting USD 650 million export turnovers this year, Ca Mau Province is expected to yield USD 1 billion by 2010.