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Imported green-clawed prawns trouble Mekong Delta farmers
Imported green-clawed prawns from China are dominating aquaculture markets in the Mekong Delta, forcing local breeders to become suppliers of the imported variety or incur big losses.
Nguyen Minh Ngoi, a prawn farmer in Co Do district in Can Tho city, switched two years ago from breeding local prawn varieties to importing baby prawns and selling them. He had previously been one of the main suppliers of domestic baby prawns for farmers in the city.
Before a couple of years ago, prawns imported from China were approximately the same price as local varieties. Now, with increases of feed price and other factors, importing the prawns is much cheaper than breeding prawns locally.
"It takes much effort and time to raise and sell the breeds at the price of VND130 per prawn, while huge volumes of the imported varieties are available for only VND100-110 each," Ngoi said.
"Currently, I have about 100,000 local prawns worth VND13 million (US$722) available in my five-hectare farm, but nobody asks for them in spite of their good quality and high resistance to diseases," Ngoi said.
It takes at least four months to raise a batch of baby prawns, with a lot of losses during that time due to disease and other factors. This makes it difficult to quickly supply large orders, but imported prawns are always available.
"I can have peace of mind now as all I have to do is to make a phone call; I can get imported breeds at the price of VND80-90 each and sell them for VND120 each," said Thanh, another farmer in O Mon district in Can Tho province.
"Buyers only care about cheap price," said Thanh.
Ho Truong Thuy Linh, a representative from Dong Thap province’s Department of Aquaculture, said that the increase in the price of prawn feed and the high risks entailed in the breeding process were the main reasons why many farmers stopped breeding and turned to an easier way to make a profit.
"Most of the feed companies have increased their prices by VND15,000-17,000 ($0.80-0.90) per kilo compared to last year," Linh said.
Can Tho city’s Aquaculture Expansion Centre vice director Le Van Tinh said that four-month-old green-clawed prawns were in huge demand at wedding restaurants for VND120,000 ($6) per kilo, so farmers preferred to make more profit by selling the cheaper imported variety.
However, Tinh warned that domestic breeds had higher disease resistance, so it would be better to continue breeding these varieties.
Le Hoang Vu, vice head of Dong Thap Province’s Department of Agriculture said that imported prawns, after suffering a long journey and environmental changes, might be more susceptible to illness.
Nguyen Huu Thanh, representative from Can Tho Province Department of Aquaculture’s fishery expansion office, said that imported products were mostly from China and the quality of the prawns remained in question.
The department would conduct inspections and reject low-quality breeds in the future; there should be a legal basis for imported breeding activities in order to more easily control the situation, said Thanh.
vietnamnet, vietnamnews
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