A booth showcasing Cà Mau crabs at the first Cà Mau Crab Festival in 2022. —VNA/VNS Photo

CÀ MAU — The second Cà Mau Crab Festival will take place from November 16 to 22 in the southernmost province of Cà Mau, according to its People’s Committee.

The event themed “Cà Mau Crab: The Scent of the Forest, the Taste of the Sea,” will feature a number of activities such as an exhibition for the crab industry and OCOP (One Commune, One Product) products, a Cà Mau crab culinary space, and a trade fair featuring over 200 stalls.

Within the framework of the festival, there will also be a competition to establish a record for Cà Mau crab, the Cà Mau Start-up Day, an international workshop on innovation for sustainable development of Cà Mau along with various cultural, sports, and tourism activities, such as the first expanded Cà Mau Southern Amateur Music Festival, and the Cà Mau Marathon.

Speaking at a press briefing on October 5, Lý Vỹ Triều Dương, deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said that the festival is a key event aimed at promoting the potential and strengths of Cà Mau in terms of economy, culture, and tourism.

“It will create conditions for connecting and calling for investment in Cà Mau from domestic and international organisations and individuals.”

“Furthermore, the event will enhance the competitive capacity of the Cà Mau crab brand in domestic and international markets,” he said.

Alongside the Cà Mau Crab Festival, the province will collaborate with the HCM City People’s Committee to organise the “Hello Cà Mau” event which will take place from November 18 to 22 in HCM City.

The event themed “Awakening Potential, Creating the Future” will feature three main activities: the investment, trade, and tourism promotion conference, the Cà Mau Crab Culinary Festival, and a communication programme for Cà Mau province.

Deputy chairman of the Cà Mau Provincial People’s Committee Lê Văn Sử said that the province has issued a plan for the development of the crab industry until 2030, which emphasises the orientation towards value chain development, enhancing quality, and increasing added value.

Various supporting policies have been implemented, including assistance for trade promotion, brand advertising, fostering linkages between farmers and businesses, and encouraging investment in processing, Sử said.

Through the upcoming events, the province hopes to promote the culture, land, and people of Cà Mau; and the potential and strengths of the Cà Mau crab industry to domestic and international visitors, he said.

During the 2021–2025 period, Cà Mau’s crab industry maintained a crucial role in the province’s aquatic economy. The crab farming area has remained stable at approximately 250,000–252,000 hectares, primarily through intercropping within shrimp ponds and combined with mangrove forests.

The average annual output amounted to around 25,000 - 25,200 tonnes.

The technology for preservation, preliminary processing, and processing remains limited and has not fully exploited the potential to produce high-value products such as frozen crab, canned crab, or ready-to-eat processed products for high-end markets.

Additionally, the scale of crab farming is currently small-scale and fragmented, mostly household farming. —VNS