The market for commercial eels remains a challenging issue.

More than 10 days after Ca Mau newspapers, radio, and television reported on the surplus of commercial eels and the Provincial Farmers' Association launched a campaign to support consumption, the market for eel farmers in An Trach commune has not seen much positive change.

• Eel farmers in Ca Mau face difficulties in finding buyers.

Despite receiving attention from the community, organizations, and some traders, selling these products in large quantities remains a challenging problem.

Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial Farmers' Association, Tieu Viet Tien, discussed with reporters the difficulties in supporting the sale of eels for local people.

According to statistics, An Trach commune currently has 24 eel farming households whose eels have reached or passed the harvesting stage but have not yet been able to sell them, with a total unsold production estimated at nearly 100 tons. While feed, electricity, and water costs are constantly increasing, the purchase price of eels has plummeted to only about 40,000 VND/kg, the lowest level in many years. This puts farmers at risk of heavy losses.

The biggest bottleneck right now isn't the complete lack of buyers, but rather the shortage of large enough orders to completely empty each pond. In reality, many traders still come to buy, but only in small quantities, a few hundred kilograms at a time, at most less than 1 ton. Meanwhile, each pond typically produces several tons or more. This piecemeal selling prevents farmers from selling off their remaining eels, forcing them to keep them in the ponds, prolonging the rearing period and incurring additional costs.

Vo Hoang Minh, Chairman of the An Trach Commune Farmers' Association, investigates the market situation for commercial eels at the farm of Mr. Ho Van Quyen.

According to observations at Mr. Ho Van Quyen's household in Hamlet 2, his family currently has over 8 tons of eels that are past their marketable age. Although traders have come to buy them, the price is only about 41,000 VND/kg, much lower than the production cost. Unwilling to sell at a heavy loss, his family has been forced to reduce the amount of feed by half each day to hold out until the price increases. However, cutting the feed also carries the risk of slower growth, losses, and reduced quality of the eels.

The eel ponds of Mr. Ho Van Quyen's family, which are over 10 months old, are currently experiencing stagnation due to difficulties in finding buyers.

It's not just Mr. Quyen's household; many other eel farmers are facing a similar situation. The longer the eels are kept, the more overgrown they become, reaching large sizes but becoming difficult to sell, and prices continue to plummet. Farmers are in a dilemma: selling them means losses, while keeping them incurs ever-increasing costs.

Faced with this situation, the Ca Mau Provincial Farmers' Association has actively implemented many solutions to support sales connections . These include focusing on promoting communication on social media platforms, calling on businesses, small traders, collective kitchens, and wholesale markets to participate in purchasing; and coordinating with neighboring localities to expand the consumption market. However, these are mainly temporary solutions, helping to alleviate immediate pressure rather than fundamentally solving the problem of market access.

Every day, Mr. Ho Van Quyen has to spend more than 2 million VND on feed to maintain his eel ponds while waiting for the commercial eels to be sold.

On the local side, the Chairman of the People's Committee of An Trach commune, Dang Minh Phap, said that the commune has proactively implemented many ways to support the people. In addition to continuing to encourage the consumption of fresh eels, the locality is also considering processing them into dried eels to extend their shelf life and increase their value. Furthermore, the government is working with banks to consider debt restructuring, giving farmers more time to manage their finances; and connecting with feed and breeding stock suppliers to reduce input costs.

In reality, without strategic solutions and stable output, the need for "rescue" efforts will continue, not only with eels but also with many other agricultural products. However, with the involvement of various sectors and levels of government, along with the efforts of the people to transform their livelihoods, it is hoped that eel farming in An Trach will soon overcome its difficulties, gradually stabilize production, and increase its market value.

Le Thai - Hoang Vu

Source: https://baocamau.vn/van-nan-giai-dau-ra-luon-thuong-pham-a128584.html