Despite drastic price drops, spiny lobsters remain unsold, leaving fishermen in a desperate situation.

VTC News•18/11/2023

Mr. Le Tuan (Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa) shared that the situation for spiny lobster farmers is becoming more difficult than ever. For the past three months, the price of spiny lobster has dropped to 1 million VND/kg, even cheaper than green lobster (priced at 1.6 million VND).

Mr. Tuan's family is raising spiny lobsters in 10 cages and facing many challenges. Earlier this year, spiny lobsters were purchased by traders at prices ranging from 1.6 to 2.1 million VND/kg, double the current price.

Not only are the prices low, but traders are actually only buying in small quantities to meet domestic demand. "Previously, they bought tons at a time, but now it's just a few animals at a time."

The price of spiny lobster purchased at the bay has dropped from 2.1 million VND per kilogram to 1 million VND per kilogram. (Photo: Provided by the interviewee)

The fact that spiny lobsters are ready for harvest but cannot be sold is driving up farming costs too high.

“With a rearing period of about 12-18 months, the cost of fry and feed is approximately 80 million VND for a cage of 10 fish. If raised for the full duration, the selling price must be at least 1.3 million VND/kg to break even. At a selling price of around 1 million VND/kg, we are definitely losing money,” Tuan calculated.

Currently, for every day the shrimp remain unsold, Mr. Tuan's family continues to lose money on feed. Along with investing billions of dong in shrimp farming for over a year, the low price and inability to sell have left Mr. Tuan sleepless for many nights, helplessly watching billions of dong – his capital and profits – lie idle at the bottom of the sea.

Mr. Luong, who raises 80 cages of spiny lobsters in Van Phong Bay, is also facing similar difficulties. He shared that the cost of raising each cage of spiny lobsters from stocking to now is 70 million VND per cage. The total cost he has spent is nearly 5.6 billion VND.

Although the shrimp were ready for harvest about three months ago, he couldn't sell them, and he had to spend an extra 15 million VND on feed every day. He became even more worried about the complicated weather conditions and storms, which could lead to a very high risk for his 80 shrimp cages.

According to spiny lobster farmers, spiny lobsters were previously mainly exported to China through unofficial channels. However, in the last three months, China has stopped buying spiny lobsters, only purchasing green lobsters, leaving spiny lobster farmers in dire straits.

According to the Van Ninh Fisheries Station, Van Phong Bay has approximately 35,000 lobster cages, mainly for raising spiny lobsters.

Three months ago, traders were buying commercially farmed lobsters at prices ranging from 1.6 to 2.1 million VND per kilogram, depending on the size. However, traders have stopped buying them in recent months. As a result, there are currently about 200 tons of lobsters weighing 0.7 kg or more stockpiled in the lobster farming area of Van Phong Bay.

Unable to export, spiny lobsters are flooding online marketplaces at unprecedentedly low prices. (Screenshot)

Nearly a week ago, the National Agency for Quality, Processing and Market Development (NAFIQPM) submitted a report to the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the results of online meetings with the Animal and Plant Quarantine Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs of China regarding the export of spiny lobster.

During the meeting, NAFIQPM raised the issue of the unexplained disruption in the export of spiny lobsters to China since August 2023. They also mentioned sending documents to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Supervision Department requesting information exchange and updates on any new Chinese policies (if any), but have not yet received a response.

The representative of the Department of Fisheries also provided information related to lobster farming activities in Vietnam, including the species being farmed, farming methods, production volume, and origin of broodstock, at the request of the specialized agency of the other country.

After receiving information from Vietnam, China will conduct online or in-person inspections of the farms and publish on the website of the General Administration of Customs of China a list of Vietnamese export packaging facilities and farms permitted to export to China.

Cong Hieu

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