Ca Mau develops key fisheries industry

Ca Mau province is considered the leading aquaculture, processing and seafood exporting region in the Mekong Delta region as well as the whole country. Many farmers and businesses are focusing on investing in shrimp and crab farming... both for domestic consumption and export to earn a large amount of foreign currency.

Shrimp processing for export brings in a large source of foreign currency for Ca Mau province.

Get rich from seafood

Mr. Huynh Thanh Su, residing in Tan Thanh ward, Ca Mau province, is one of the pioneer households responding to the movement of converting ineffective rice fields to black tiger shrimp farming. He went to learn shrimp farming experience in some places and was supported by aquatic engineers in terms of techniques. Mr. Su designed 1 hectare of rice fields into an extensive black tiger shrimp farming model. The new land is still fertile, combined with proper care, has helped him have a continuous good harvest. With the money accumulated over the years, he continues to invest in buying more land to expand production to 7 hectares of shrimp farming land; at the same time, he also invests in raising his children to become good people.

In 2010, many cooperatives and enterprises in the Mekong Delta developed an industrial shrimp farming model for higher productivity. At this time, Mr. Su also decided to test a pond with an area of ​​nearly 0.2 hectares. With his industrious nature, willingness to learn, and meticulous record keeping throughout the care process, his industrial shrimp pond achieved good results, ensuring profits. In the following crops, when he had experience and linked with feed suppliers, purchasing enterprises, etc., he expanded to 4 industrial shrimp ponds. For the remaining areas, he still maintained extensive farming. On average, each year after deducting expenses, he still had a profit of about 1.2 billion VND.

Mr. Su shared: "To successfully raise shrimp, the first thing is to design the ponds properly, ensure the water supply and drainage system, and set aside ponds to treat water to meet standards before bringing water into the ponds to avoid disease in the shrimp. Basically, a clean environment helps shrimp grow well...".

Along with shrimp farming, Mr. Su also applies crop rotation to raise sea crabs and fish to help his family increase income. "Thanks to shrimp farming, I was voted by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association as "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer of 2025"; was elected by the locality as Chairman of the Tan Thanh Billionaire Farmers' Club... I am very happy and ready to share my experiences so that people can develop sustainable aquaculture together and get rich together in my homeland," Mr. Su confided.

In recent years, Mr. Bui Chi Thuong, residing in Tan Hoa hamlet, Luong The Tran commune (Ca Mau province), has made a breakthrough with a super-intensive shrimp farming model, applying biological products to create clean shrimp products that meet international standards for sustainable aquaculture. Showing us 5 ponds (each pond is about 1,500m²), Mr. Thuong said that the ponds are designed appropriately, with settling pond systems and wastewater treatment ponds to ensure a stable farming environment. All water sources in the pond must be treated and reused continuously to help maintain good water quality, limit diseases, and save fresh water resources. During the farming process, the use of chemicals and antibiotics is limited, but only circulating water treatment is applied in combination with biological products. This method helps the shrimp grow quickly, and after about 120 days of farming, they can reach a weight of 15 shrimp/kg, thanks to which factories buy them at a higher price than the market. With this model, annual profit reaches about 4 billion VND, bringing both outstanding economic efficiency and minimizing waste to the environment, aiming for green and sustainable production.

Along with shrimp, Ca Mau farmers are also promoting crab farming to get rich. Currently, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of the province is coordinating with related units to implement crab farming models such as intensive farming, semi-intensive farming, improved extensive farming, combined extensive farming, crab farming in ponds, cages, crab farming in plastic boxes, etc., bringing positive results in terms of crab yield and quality.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, residing in Tam Giang commune, said: "This area inherits the mangrove ecosystem, has a lot of alluvium and nutrients, thereby creating a quality of crabs in Nam Can region that is different from other regions; the outer shape is sturdy, the shell and body of the crab are thick. Due to the living environment, the crab's characteristic pigment has been formed, the meat is firm and very delicious. From those advantages, for many years now, my family has applied intercropping crab farming and supplied it to traders to sell everywhere. Recently, farmers have implemented a model of raising crabs with roe in plastic boxes with technical support from Ca Mau province. The advantage of this model is that the output and productivity are high, the survival rate is over 90%, the crabs raised for more than a month have red roe, firm meat, and profits increase by more than 30% compared to other models".

Towards sustainable goals

The Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ca Mau province said that since the beginning of 2025, it has trained thousands of households to raise crabs according to semi-intensive processes, combined with improved extensive shrimp farming; at the same time, it has provided technical support to more than 4,000 crab farming households in the province, guided many crab farming cooperatives to implement farming conditions and processes according to standards of interest to the market; built a standard crab farming model... Currently, the whole province has about 418,000 hectares of combined crab farming, with an average yield of 0.1 tons/ha/year, and an output of more than 41,800 tons/year. In the future, the province will continue to establish more cooperatives, with a crab farming area of ​​100 hectares or more per cooperative; build a chain from production to consumption to increase value and competitiveness. The goal is to develop the Ca Mau crab farming industry into a major center of the Mekong Delta region and the whole country, with advanced technology, protecting the ecological environment, bringing benefits to people and businesses.

Recently, Thanh Nien Global Trading Joint Stock Company (Thanh Nien Global) signed a cooperation agreement to supply sea crabs with 20 cooperatives in Ca Mau province. Mr. Nguyen Van Phu, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thanh Nien Global, said that the signing is a strategic step to meet the increasing demand for output and quality of Ca Mau sea crabs to export markets such as China, Singapore, etc. In addition, the company also cooperates in building a brand for Ca Mau crab specialties.

Regarding shrimp, the whole province of Ca Mau has about 422,779 hectares; of which the area of ​​intensive and super-intensive shrimp farming is 34,536 hectares; improved extensive shrimp farming is 197,000 hectares; combined extensive shrimp farming (shrimp - forest, shrimp - rice, shrimp - crab - fish) is more than 184,815 hectares... Currently, the price of black tiger shrimp purchased by traders has increased from 5,000-20,000 VND/kg, depending on size; white-leg shrimp has increased from 5,000-27,000 VND/kg compared to the same period in 2024, helping farmers make a profit and feel secure in production.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ho Hai, Secretary of the Ca Mau Provincial Party Committee, in the period of 2025-2030, the province will continue to invest in the irrigation system to maintain freshwater and expand the freshwater area, increasing the shrimp-rice production area. Prioritize resources for infrastructure and technical investment; training, international certification and linkage between enterprises and farmers to replicate the high-quality shrimp-rice model, contributing to achieving the target of 50,000 hectares by 2030. At the same time, it will plan, form and develop the shrimp industry value chain (from shrimp seed production, commercial shrimp, feed, processing, export, traceability). Invest in developing a concentrated high-tech shrimp farming area of ​​10,000 hectares in places with suitable conditions; limit scattered high-tech shrimp farming, household scale in unplanned areas; continue to promote ecological shrimp farming, improved extensive shrimp farming for sustainable development...

UBND tỉnh Cà Mau cho biết, Ngày hội Cua Cà Mau lần thứ 2 năm 2025 với chủ đề "Cua Cà Mau, hương rừng - vị biển", diễn ra từ ngày 16 đến 22-11 tại quảng trường Phan Ngọc Hiển. Ngày hội có nhiều hoạt động phong phú, hấp dẫn như cuộc thi "xác lập kỷ lục" về cua Cà Mau; không gian trưng bày, triển lãm thương mại ngành cua; sản phẩm khởi nghiệp, đổi mới sáng tạo và OCOP; không gian ẩm thực cua Cà Mau; hội chợ thương mại tổng hợp; trưng bày, trình diễn, chế biến món ăn từ cua; hội thảo quốc tế "Đổi mới sáng tạo phát triển bền vững ngành cua biển Cà Mau - Việt Nam"…

Article and photos: PHUOC BINH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/ca-mau-phat-trien-nganh-thuy-san-chu-luc-a193690.html