Fishing boats in Kiên Giang Province’s Rạch Giá City. – VNA/VNS Photo Lê Huy Hải

KIÊN GIANG — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kiên Giang has approved a project for sustainable aquaculture development on an area of 5,500ha in Hòn Đất District in the 2023–26 period.

It is budgeted to cost VNĐ624 billion (US$26.6 million), which will be funded by loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the World Bank.

The province will invest in infrastructure like irrigation works, roads and power supply systems, and implement livelihood models such as shrimp – rice farming and farming of giant river prawns and other aquatic species.

Mai Văn Huỳnh, chairman of its People’s Council, said the project would help build and upgrade infrastructure, renovate farming techniques, improve management capacity, and organise aquaculture activities.

These would help improve value, deepen international integration and environment-friendliness and adapt to climate change, he said.

The project would help develop infrastructure in areas producing shrimp seed and breeding brackish water shrimp, he added.

Kiên Giang, one of the delta’s largest seafood producers, wants aquaculture to account for more than 58 per cent of its agricultural output by 2030 and annual fisheries output to be 800,000 – 910,000 tonnes, with aquaculture accounting for 484,800 tonnes.

To achieve the targets, the province plans to develop aquaculture in line with conditions in each locality to improve quality, yields and value and adapt to climate change and increase.

Banning catch

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has banned fishing boats from catching bivalve molluscs near shore between July 11 and the end of this year to protect and regenerate species like blood cockles, yellow clams, ark clams, and pearl oysters.

It has also prohibited processors and trading establishments from buying bivalve molluscs caught near shore and local authorities from granting licences to fishing boats to catch bivalve molluscs.

Oversight will be strengthened in this regard.

Fishing boats with a length of less than 12m will not be granted licences for catching bivalve molluscs during the ban period.

The department’s inspectorate will crack down on the fishing, buying, processing, transport, and sales of bivalve molluscs.

The province’s coastline of more than 200km offers enormous advantages for carrying on aquaculture, including farming of bivalve molluscs. Authorities have zoned 26,900ha of farming areas with an annual output of more than 100,000 tonnes by 2030.

These areas are mostly in mudflats along coastal areas and mangrove forests in Kiên Lương, Hòn Đất, An Biên and An Minh districts. — VNS