Fishing boats in Bến Tre Province. The province is investing more in fishing ports and storm shelters to meet the demand of its rapidly growing fishing industry. – VNA/VNS Photo Trần Thị Thu Hiền

BẾN TRE – The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Bến Tre is building new fishing ports and storm shelters and upgrading others to ease the overload on existing ones.

A new port and a storm shelter are coming up in Ba Tri District on an area of 20ha and 23ha. They will cost VNĐ253 billion (US$11 million), of which VNĐ190 billion will come from the Government.

It is drafting plans to expand Bình Đại Fishing Port in Bình Đại District by 3.3ha by adding a pier, a warehouse for classifying seafood and a wastewater treatment facility.

The work will cost nearly VNĐ114 billion ($5 million), with the Government providing VNĐ112 billion.

According to Nguyễn Văn Buội, deputy director of the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the fisheries sector is growing quickly, with the number of high-capacity fishing boats rising rapidly making existing fishing ports and storm shelters insufficient.

The province is also developing logistics services at fishing ports to improve quality.   

The province has three fishing ports in Ba Tri, Thạnh Phú and Bình Đại districts and two storm shelters in Bình Đại and Thạnh Phú.

Its People’s Committee has petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to add Bình Đại and Ba Tri fishing ports to the list of the country’s first-class fishing ports for the 2021- 30 period.

The ports have handled a total of 14,760 tonnes of seafood caught by 936 boats this year, according to the department.

Bến Tre has 3,882 registered fishing boats, including 2,149 with a length of at least 15 metres, among the highest number of any delta province.

They catch 210,000 tonnes of seafood a year. – VNS