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Shrimp exports down
In the first five months of the year, shrimp export turnover was just US$441 million, out of a total of $1.4 billion in aquatic produce exports, a decrease of 7.3 percent of export value and 1.9 percent in volume, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Export and Processing (VASEP).
The lead aquatic exports are tra and basa fish, $477 million, which have overtaken shrimp for the first time.
Not enough sugpo prawn for the market
According to the chairman of the Shrimp Committee under VASEP, Le Van Quang, currently most processing businesses lack shrimp due to world shrimp market demand fluctuations, diseases and complicated weather changes.
The lack of material was also due to farmers experiencing revenue loss from raising shrimp for export last year, said Mr. Quang.
Such problems have led to many farmers to not bother breeding shrimp this year.
It is difficult to find shrimp in the traditional Soc Trang and Bac Lieu shrimp growing areas, Mr. Quang said.
Shrimp breeding areas in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Soc Trang are decreasing and supgo prawn production in Mekong Delta this year is forecast to drop by 30-40 percent compared with 2007, Mr. Quang said.
In addition, breeders do not have capital to expand breeding areas due to feed prices increasing and food agencies not agreeing to sell goods on credit.
Mr. Quang said that though the shrimp prices have been increasing a little, it has not been enough to encourage farmers to resume farming.
Many shrimp processors have been running at just 30 percent capacity.
In recent months, there has also been a shift from sugpo to white-legged shrimp, as they grow quicker, consume less food and are less susceptible to disease.
Since 2008, most areas in Vietnam for cultivating white leg shrimp were previously used for raising sugpo prawns.
According to the general director of Thuan Phuoc Commercial and Seafood, Da Nang Tran Van Linh, last year a large number of prawns and white-legged shrimp were infected with disease in the Central region, so farmers need to reduce the effects on the environment and choose good shrimp seed.
However, the price of imported shrimp seed is still high, at around VND35-40 per shrimp. Local shrimp seed is just VND10, he added.
Most breeders change to breed white-legged shrimp
The world economic recession has led to a drop in sugpo demand, with consumers buying smaller sized shrimp, particularly white-legged shrimp, which accounts for 80 percent of international demand.
Although demand of sugpo prawn is deceasing, it still has a market. White-legged shrimp has simply replaced medium and small-sized sugpo prawn.
When the market recovers and sugpo prawn demands grow Vietnam will not have enough supply, as such the Mekong Delta needs to maintain sugpo breeding farms.
In response to these concerns, Nguyen Van Hao, director of Research Institute for Aquaculture No 2, said his institute has had initial success in creating high quality shrimp breeding stock and Soc Trang Province farmers have successfully produced two crops.
According to Tran Thien Hai, chairman of VASEP, the world economic recession is not the main difficultly, the issue is of shrimp seed, environment, and trade fraud.
The association needs to have long term plan to breed sugpo prawn and take back its position in aquatic exports.
VietNamNet, SGGP
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