Mekong Delta: Efforts to overcome difficulties for the shrimp industry

Seafood exports, including shrimp, continue to maintain growth momentum. However, in the Mekong Delta, farmers and export businesses are facing many difficulties. Prominent among these are unfavorable weather conditions, disease outbreaks, unstable shrimp supply, and rising logistics and transportation costs.

Processing shrimp for export at a facility in Soc Trang. Photo: VINH TUONG — Processing shrimp for export at a facility in Soc Trang . Photo: VINH TUONG

When asked about plans for the new shrimp farming season, Mr. Tran The Dinh (a shrimp farmer in Thanh Thoi Thuan commune, Tran De district, Soc Trang province) sighed: "Nobody in this area is interested in stocking shrimp anymore. Out of 10 farming households, only 5 are still stocking. Constant losses, debt, and lack of capital – people would rather abandon their ponds than start a new season."

According to Mr. Dinh, the price traders paid for shrimp last season was too low. Shrimp over 100 pieces/kg only fetched just over 50,000 VND/kg, while those under 100 pieces/kg only received nearly 70,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, each ton of shrimp requires an average of 1.1 tons of feed, costing nearly 50 million VND (if purchased on credit) or around 40 million VND (if paid in cash), not including the cost of medicine, electricity, land rent (if leased), and disease outbreaks… Therefore, shrimp farmers are only incurring losses!

Meanwhile, farmer Phan Van Queo (from Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province) said that the white feces disease affecting shrimp in recent days has caused many high-tech shrimp farmers to worry, with newly stocked shrimp dying from the disease. Currently, many farmers have to re-treat their ponds. From the beginning of September 2024 until now, the situation of "abandoned ponds" has been occurring for many shrimp farmers in localities in the Mekong Delta such as Ca Mau, Bac Lieu , Soc Trang, Ben Tre... The main reason is the sharp fluctuations in the price of raw shrimp, while the costs of fry, feed, and medicine remain high. In addition, due to losses and depletion of capital from the previous season, coupled with the complex development of shrimp diseases, farmers are hesitant to invest in the new season.

According to trader Huynh Phu Cuong (who specializes in supplying raw shrimp to shrimp processing factories for export in Ca Mau province), the current price of whiteleg shrimp (30 shrimp/kg) is 170,000 VND/kg; 50 shrimp/kg is 122,000 VND/kg; and 100 shrimp/kg is 93,000 VND/kg… This price is higher than the same period last year, and farmers are making a profit. However, currently, people do not have much shrimp to sell. The reason is that due to the prolonged low shrimp prices, many people have abandoned their ponds.

Shrimp processing plants exporting their products in the Mekong Delta are also facing a shortage of raw materials. A shrimp processing company exporting its products in Ca Mau City (Ca Mau province) shared: "Currently, it's the peak production season for export orders to the US and EU markets, but the shortage of raw shrimp is causing difficulties for the business."

Local authorities in the Western region are providing necessary guidance to help farmers proactively cope with unusual weather and prevent disease outbreaks, such as: designing ponds according to a multi-stage rearing model with water recirculation, lining the ponds with tarpaulin and siphon pits at the bottom; selecting fry from reputable, branded, traceable facilities with certifications of eligibility for aquaculture production and rearing, and ensuring the fry have quarantine certificates and are disease-free.

According to Mr. To Minh Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Lieu province, the locality is supporting processing and exporting businesses to increase investment in technological innovation and equipment, expand production scale, and shift the export structure towards focusing on and linking the development of products with competitive advantages and high added value, applying clean technology to improve product quality, increase value and competitiveness for shrimp products. At the same time, it encourages businesses to invest in processing and exporting new products, deeply processed product lines to new markets, diversify products; and comply with regulations in export markets… This is also the common goal of the fisheries sector, including the shrimp industry, in the Mekong Delta.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP), in the first eight months of 2024, seafood export turnover reached nearly US$6.3 billion, an increase of nearly 9% compared to the same period last year. Of this, shrimp export turnover reached nearly US$2.4 billion, also up 9% year-on-year.

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