Exercise caution before starting a new shrimp farming season.

Currently, shrimp farmers in the province are busy preparing ponds, shrimp fry, and other necessary conditions for the new farming season. However, to achieve high yields, ensure profitability, and minimize risks from disease, weather, and volatile markets, shrimp farmers need to strictly adhere to the seasonal schedule, strengthen disease prevention and control, and apply advanced technology to shrimp farming.

Shrimp farmers in Vinh Linh district are making thorough preparations before starting the new shrimp farming season - Photo: LA

The epidemic began to break out.

Mr. Tran Van Son, from Huynh Thuong Cooperative, Vinh Son commune, Vinh Linh district, said that after renovating his ponds, he stocked 100,000 whiteleg shrimp fry in an area of ​​3,500 m2 at the end of February 2025. However, when the shrimp were about 45 days old, he noticed they started drifting to the shore and dying in large numbers. Externally, the shrimp showed signs of acute hepatopancreatic disease.

According to Mr. Son, the shrimp fry he obtained were from a hatchery in Ninh Thuan province, with full quarantine certificates. Therefore, in his opinion, the shrimp dying from disease could be due to unfavorable water conditions or residual pathogens in the soil. “In the 2024 shrimp farming season, I suffered significant losses. Partly because the shrimp died from disease, and partly because after restocking, a major flood in October 2024 submerged my ponds, resulting in a total loss. Now, the shrimp are dying in large numbers due to disease, and I'm in debt,” Mr. Son lamented.

Similarly, at Phan Hien Cooperative, grieving over the mass death of shrimp in their ponds due to disease, Mr. Tran Quang Dung said that after the disastrous 2024 farming season due to shrimp mortality from disease, in early 2025, he continued to prepare ponds and stock 100,000 whiteleg shrimp fry on an area of ​​0.3 hectares.

However, after less than 1.5 months of raising the shrimp, all of them died due to disease. "I estimate I owe over a hundred million dong for the shrimp fry and feed. But if we don't raise shrimp now, we don't know what else to do to make ends meet," Mr. Dung lamented.

According to Than Trong Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh Son commune, the entire commune currently has about 172 hectares of shrimp farming area with 455 households. The harvest yield in 2024 is expected to reach over 225 tons, generating revenue of approximately 25 billion VND. However, due to disease damage affecting up to 90 hectares of shrimp farms in 2024, only about 60 households in the commune made a profit, while 121 households broke even and 277 households incurred losses.

Entering the 2025 shrimp farming season, the People's Committee of the commune directed cooperatives and shrimp farmers to focus on improving ponds, stocking in staggered batches, and strictly adhering to the stocking schedule from March 15th onwards. However, due to eagerness to start stocking, many shrimp farmers began stocking from the beginning of February 2025. To date, over 100 hectares have been stocked for 2-2.5 months, with approximately 30 hectares experiencing shrimp mortality due to disease. According to the experience of shrimp farmers, the main diseases are red body disease and acute hepatopancreatic necrosis.

According to Mr. Dung, the reason for the early outbreak of the disease is the unfavorable weather this year, with prolonged cold and rainy periods that are not conducive to pond preparation. Shrimp fry, when released into the ponds, encounter cold weather, resulting in slow growth and weakened resistance. Furthermore, based on water quality monitoring results on the Sa Lung River, the agricultural sector recommended against releasing shrimp fry, but shrimp farmers did not heed this advice, leading to the disease outbreak.

According to Mr. Dung, the worrying aspect is that the procedures for receiving support in the form of Chloril to control the disease are quite complicated, so shrimp farmers mainly buy the chemicals themselves for treatment. “In 2024, out of a total of 213 shrimp farming households affected by disease in the entire commune, only 3 households submitted applications for support in the form of Chloril, totaling 1.9 tons. Currently, most households affected by the disease are buying the chemicals themselves for treatment,” Mr. Dung stated.

Strictly adhering to seasonal schedules and employing high-tech farming methods.

That's the view of Mr. Tran Van Dung from Phan Hien Cooperative, Vinh Son commune, one of the first shrimp farmers to apply the high-tech shrimp farming model in the province. Mr. Dung said that, based on his experience over more than 10 years of shrimp farming, he realized that this year's weather was quite unfavorable. Therefore, instead of rushing to stock his ponds, he carried out the pond preparation process more meticulously.

The process involves replacing all the pond liners, reinforcing the banks with concrete, re-lining the ponds with new liners, and filling the settling ponds with water for treatment according to the established procedure before supplying it to the main ponds. According to Mr. Dung, with high-tech shrimp farming, he only uses about 1/4 of the water surface area for shrimp farming, with the rest being settling ponds for water filtration.

This allows farmers to proactively choose the timing for water supply and treat the water before introducing it into the ponds. Raising fish indoors allows for better disease management, minimizes environmental impact, and involves 2-3 stages of cultivation, resulting in a higher success rate and less damage if disease outbreaks occur.

“In 2024, I raised three crops, and although some were successful and some were not, the profit still amounted to about 1.8 billion VND. For the 2025 crop, I plan to raise only two crops, with the first one scheduled to be stocked in about 3-5 days to ensure a harvest in time for September 2nd,” Mr. Dung shared.

According to Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Huu Vinh, in order to improve production efficiency, the department has issued guidelines on the seasonal schedule for stocking brackish water shrimp in the province, starting from March 15th and ending before May 30th, with harvesting before October 15th to avoid losses caused by natural disasters. Only one crop per year is allowed for farming, and one to two crops per year for whiteleg shrimp. Based on this, localities will use the actual situation in their farming areas to recommend and guide appropriate seasonal stocking schedules.

Proactively develop plans, allocate resources, and organize the implementation of comprehensive disease prevention and disaster mitigation measures during the production process. Strengthen the management of shrimp seed quality, preventing the circulation of low-quality or unidentifiable shrimp seeds for stocking in the area. Encourage farmers to establish cooperative and community-based aquaculture models in concentrated farming areas to raise awareness of disease prevention and control, protect the environment, and support each other in the production and consumption of products.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment encourages multi-stage shrimp farming and stocking large-sized fry for commercial farming, as well as shrimp farming according to VietGAP standards. "The Department also directs specialized units to increase staff to disseminate information and guide farmers on measures to prevent and control dangerous diseases in shrimp farming, and to encourage farmers to raise community awareness in preventing and controlling aquatic diseases."

"We coordinate with local authorities to detect disease outbreaks early so that we can promptly implement measures to prevent, control, and limit the spread of aquatic diseases," Mr. Vinh added.

Le An

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/can-trong-truc-vu-nuoi-tom-moi-193203.htm