The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has worked out a plan to expandits aquaculture area to 26,000 hectares by 2020, doubling the currentacreage.

With the expanded area, the city expects to earn atleast one billion USD from an annual production of 335,000 tonnes ofaquaculture products, of which 160,000 tonnes are for export, accordingto the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Underthe city’s 2020 aquaculture development project, the farming area willbe divided into two main sub-areas. The first, including 16,000hectares in Thot Not district, a part of Vinh Thanh district and dunesin Hau River, will specialise in breeding freshwater prawn, tra(Pangasius) fish and other freshwater fish. The second, covering anarea of 10,000 hectares in the districts of Vinh Thanh, Co Do andPhong Dien will raise catfish and other freshwater fish.

Inaddition, the city will build a fisheries centre capable of supplyingtwo billion shrimp and fish fry each year in Vinh Thanh district.

To ensure the quality of its aquaculture products and meet the target,the city will conduct training courses to encourage farmers andprocessors to adopt international food safety standards such as GAP, SGF1000 CM, HACCP and ISO, while expanding into foreign markets.

Thecity also aims to bring the total number of seafood processing plantsto 33 with a total annual capacity of 192,000 tonnes by 2020.-VNA