The southernmost province of Ca Mau will invest 20 billion VND (around 930,000 USD) to dredge the two big estuaries and build wharves to facilitate fishing activities.

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

Song Doc estuary in Tran Van Thoi District is 40km to the west of Ca Mau City. It is used by 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 third of 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 a fishing fleet of 4,000 boats, the province has 290,000 hectares of land used for aquaculture, which generate a combined aquatic output of 490,000 tonnes in 2014, representing an annual increase of 10.3 percent.

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