Second Ca Mau Shrimp Festival Opens in November: Two Conferences Focus on Industry Repositioning and Production-Sales Linkages

Ca Mau Province, Vietnam, will host the second Ca Mau Shrimp Festival on November 21-22, 2026. Two key conferences are scheduled within the festival framework: the Vietnam Shrimp Industry Development Conference 2026, themed "Repositioning the Shrimp Industry," will be held on November 22 at the Ca Mau Provincial Convention Center (An Xuyen Ward); and a shrimp product production-sales linkage conference will begin on November 21.

According to Vietnam Fisheries Magazine, the Vietnam Shrimp Industry Development Conference 2026 is expected to draw 200 delegates and will be co-chaired by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee, with implementation coordinated by the Vietnam Fisheries Association, the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance, and the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Environment. Participants will include representatives of management agencies, industry associations, 23 shrimp-farming provinces and cities, as well as research institutes, universities, enterprises, cooperatives and international organizations in the fisheries sector.

The conference will focus on assessing the development of Vietnam's shrimp industry in 2026, analyzing the current state of production, processing, exports and value chain linkages, and on that basis discussing the direction for the shrimp industry to develop toward modernization, green and sustainable growth and international integration by 2030. The conference will also include a dialogue session to put forward mechanism and policy recommendations supporting the shrimp industry's development, while introducing the potential and advantages of Ca Mau shrimp, promoting the Ca Mau shrimp brand in conjunction with sustainable development requirements, and enhancing competitiveness in international markets.

The other conference, on shrimp product production-sales linkages, is jointly organized by the Vietnam Fisheries Association and the Ca Mau Department of Industry and Trade, aiming to promote production-business linkages and expand sales markets. Participants will include industry associations, seafood production, processing and export enterprises, suppliers of shrimp seed, feed, inputs and logistics, as well as domestic and international supermarket chains, distributors, e-commerce platforms and importers. The conference will arrange direct matchmaking between partners and cooperatives, cooperative groups, aquaculture bases and enterprises, covering introductions to the shrimp industry's potential and flagship products, updates on market demand, quality standards, traceability and trade digital transformation, and trade activities to promote the signing of consumption cooperation, investment and shrimp industry value chain development contracts.

Ca Mau Province provides the industrial foundation for production-sales linkages. The province currently has 89 seafood export processing plants with a total designed capacity of more than 500,000 tonnes/year; enterprises are increasing technological investment, developing deep processing, diversifying product ranges and applying international standards such as ASC, BAP, BRC and ISO. The province has established 48 linkage chains between enterprises, cooperatives and farming households, covering about 38,169 hectares and involving nearly 8,000 households. Enterprises such as Minh Phu, Nam Can, Camimex, Thai Kim Anh and Southern Shrimp have participated in building raw material areas and in production, processing and sales linkages.

At a recent review meeting on festival preparations with the Vietnam Fisheries Association, Le Van Su, Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee, asked relevant units to strengthen direct matchmaking between export enterprises in the province and foreign enterprises and importers, in order to expand markets and participate more deeply in international supply chains.

On Vietnam's shrimp export data, statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) show that shrimp export value in September 2026 is estimated at US$467 million, with cumulative exports of US$3.75 billion in the first nine months, up 11% year on year, accounting for about 41% of total seafood export value and continuing to rank first in exports. In the first 10 months of 2026, national seafood export value reached US$10.459 billion, up 12.1% year on year, of which shrimp accounted for US$4.22 billion, up 9%. In October alone, shrimp exports fell nearly 5% to US$474 million, with whiteleg shrimp down 8%.

On aquaculture production, data from the Vietnam Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance show that in the first nine months of 2026, brackish-water shrimp output exceeded 1.07 million tonnes, completing 76.6% of the annual plan, including 791,400 tonnes of whiteleg shrimp and 281,500 tonnes of black tiger shrimp. The shrimp industry needs to produce about another 327,200 tonnes in the fourth quarter to meet the full-year target of 1.4 million tonnes. Ca Mau Province continues to rank first in national shrimp production, with total output of 454,065 tonnes in the first nine months, up 9.7% year on year, including 439,400 tonnes of farmed shrimp.