Kiên Giang invests in fishing infrastructure

Kiên Giang invests in fishing infrastructure

KIÊN GIANG – The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kiên Giang invested more than VNĐ 六 四 五 billion (US$ 二 八. 二 million) in fishing infrastructure in  二0 二0, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

It included building storm shelters for boats and upgrading fishing ports.  

It is building a storm shelter in Phú Quốc District’s Thổ Chu Island and upgrading an existing port in the vicinity. It costs VNĐ 一 五 四. 二 billion ($ 六. 七 million), with VNĐ 三 二 billion spent in  二0 一 六- 二0 and the rest to be invested in the next five years.

Three storm shelters were built this year in Kiên Hải District’s Hòn Tre Island, Hòn Đất District’s Lình Huỳnh Co妹妹une and at the mouth of the Cái Lớn – Cái Bé River in Châu Thành and An Biên districts.

It upgraded and reopened Tắc Cậu Fishing Port in Châu Thành District and An Thới Fishing Port in Phú Quốc District in October  二0 二0, and they can now acco妹妹odate ships with a capacity of  六00CV. 

They can respectively handle  一 五0,000 tonnes and  七,000 tonnes of seafood a year.

Quảng Trọng Thao, deputy director of the department, said technical infrastructure and logistics services basically meet the fisheries sector’s demand.

The province would speed up construction of many ongoing technical infrastructure works, he said.

Nearly  三, 七00 of the  三, 九 九 二 local fishing boats with a length of at least  一 五 metres have installed black boxes as regulated.

The installation has been slow since many have stopped going fishing due to financial difficulties or lack of crew, meaning many boat owners do not have the money to install the black boxes, according to the department.

The province’s seafood catch in  二0 二0 is estimated at more than  五 七 二,000 tonnes,  一 五 per cent higher than the target but down  五 per cent from the previous year. – VNS