The southernmost province of Ca Mau will invest 20 billion VND (around930,000 USD) to dredge the two big estuaries and build wharves tofacilitate fishing activities.

According to MaiHuu Chinh, Director of the provincial Department of Planning andInvestment, the work will start at Song Doc and Khanh Hoi estuaries inthe second quarters. Dykes will also be built along the two sides of theestuaries to prevent erosion.

Song Doc estuaryin Tran Van Thoi District is 40km to the west of Ca Mau City. It is usedby nearly 3,000 fishing vessels.

Meanwhile, Khanh Hoi estuary is in U Minh District, 50km from Ca Mau City, and is used by nearly 1,200 boats.

Ca Mau boats a coastline of more than 254 km, equivalent to one thirdof the Mekong Delta’s coastline, and a fishing ground of 71,000 sq. km,considered to be one of the four key fishing grounds in Vietnam,according to the province’s portal.

Besides afishing fleet of 4,000 boats, the province has 290,000 hectares of landused for aquaculture, which generate a combined aquatic output of490,000 tonnes in 2014, representing an annual increase of 10.3 percent.

Roughly 180,000 tonnes were processed forexport, bringing home 1.3 billion USD—a 200 million USD increase from ayear earlier, according to Director of the provincial Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development Le Van Su.-VNA