The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Ben 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 VND253 billion (US$11 million), of which VND190 billion will come from the Government.

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

The work will cost nearly VND114 billion ($5 million), with the Government providing VND112 billion.

According to Nguyen Van Buoi, 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, Thanh Phu and Binh Dai districts and two storm shelters in Binh Dai and Thanh Phu.

Its People’s Committee has petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to add Binh Dai 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.

Ben 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