A Ben Tre farmer raises crayfish, an animal that swims backwards and sheds its shell, hoping to sell it to global markets.

Before raising frozen soft-shelled shrimp, Mr. Nam had been an aquaculture service provider for many years in the profession.

With a lot of experience in aquaculture, Mr. Nguyen Huu Nam, Director of An Thanh Agricultural - Service Cooperative (An Thanh Commune, Thanh Phu District, Ben Tre Province) successfully raised frozen soft-shelled crayfish. In the photo, Mr. Nam with a breeding giant catfish raised in his family's pond. Photo: T.D

"Secret" to raising frozen soft-shelled shrimp

Because of many years of experience in aquaculture, Mr. Nam clearly understands the rules of planting and raising animals in Vietnam. Whenever there is an excess supply, there will be a situation of product collision, market congestion, unstable prices and traders forcing down prices...

Currently, giant freshwater prawns are raised quite a lot by farmers in the West, especially in Ben Tre . In Thanh Phu district, Nam's hometown, every alley has a giant freshwater prawn pond.

To prevent the young cooperative specializing in raising giant freshwater prawns from encountering an output bottleneck, Mr. Nam and the Board of Directors of the cooperative came up with a way to... raise frozen soft-shelled giant freshwater prawns, which is considered a breakthrough innovation that opens a way out for the giant freshwater prawn farming profession.

"Based on concerns about the crayfish farming profession, I thought it was necessary to create a new crayfish product to increase the commercial value of crayfish. From here, An Thanh Cooperative raises molting crayfish and brings frozen products to the market," said Mr. Nam.

According to Mr. Nam, raising molting crayfish is not difficult. Knowing the characteristics of crayfish, when they are big enough and have enough meat, they will molt on their own. Mr. Nam buys raw crayfish from members and shrimp farmers and then brings them home to fatten them up and wait for them to molt.

"I buy crayfish that have been raised for 5-7 months and then bring them to the farm for another month to molt and harvest. During the process of raising molting crayfish, I do not use chemicals but let the shrimp molt naturally. The crayfish's food is trash fish and high-protein industrial food," Nam shared.

However, to produce the best quality frozen peeled giant freshwater prawns, according to Mr. Nam, there must be a "secret".

According to Mr. Nam, Director of An Thanh Agricultural - Service Cooperative (An Thanh Commune, Thanh Phu District, Ben Tre Province), raising frozen soft-shelled shrimp requires a "secret". Photo: T.D

Accordingly, as soon as the shrimp molts, they must be harvested immediately and not left in water for too long to maintain the quality of the meat. In addition, they must be frozen immediately while still alive to maintain the freshness of the shrimp meat and preserve the product for as long as possible.

Raising frozen soft-shelled shrimp with the hope of selling to the "global market"

According to Mr. Nam, he currently brings to the market about 500kg of frozen peeled crayfish each month. The frozen peeled crayfish products are packaged (500g/package) and labeled before being released to the market.

Currently, Mr. Nam's frozen peeled crayfish products are divided into 4 groups, including: 20, 16, 12 and 10/kg, with the corresponding prices of frozen peeled crayfish being 330,000 VND, 350,000 VND, 390,000 VND and 430,000 VND/kg.

These frozen peeled crayfish have been sold in Ho Chi Minh City market and the southwestern provinces.

From the beginning, Mr. Nam determined that the product of peeled giant freshwater prawns was aimed at increasing the value of giant freshwater prawns, entering the niche market segment, and with the ambition to serve the export market, not just the domestic market.

So how is frozen peeled crayfish different from fresh crayfish? According to Mr. Nam, frozen peeled crayfish is processed properly so the meat is firmer, more fragrant and sweeter than usual.

Members of An Thanh Cooperative (An Thanh Commune, Thanh Phu District, Ben Tre Province) harvest crayfish for Mr. Nam to raise molting crayfish. Photo: T.D.

In addition, the quality of natural Ben Tre crayfish products has also surpassed other places. According to the registration of geographical indication for Ben Tre crayfish products: Live crayfish with geographical indication Ben Tre with weight of 40g/piece has calcium content of 345 - 761mg/kg, fat content of 0.33 - 0.82% and Omega3 content of 39.3 - 93.9mg/100g.

Mr. Nam said that according to the plan, by 2025, An Thanh Cooperative will increase the capacity of processing frozen peeled crayfish by 2-3 times compared to the present. The Cooperative will expand the scale of production, and cooperate to purchase crayfish for farmers.

In addition, to develop products, the cooperative is completing the dossier to recognize 3-star OCOP products for frozen peeled giant freshwater prawns and registering intellectual property for the production process.

Source: https://danviet.vn/mot-ong-nong-dan-ben-tre-nuoi-tom-cang-con-dong-vat-boi-giat-lui-tu-lot-vo-mong-ban-cho-toan-cau-20241013064643474.htm