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Shrimp breeder not impacted by storm
A major Vientiane shrimp breeder, Union Phoukham Farm, was not impacted by the torrential rains over the weekend as tropical storm Nock-Ten reached Laos; however, the farm has halted its supply of shrimp.
“We weren't impacted by the flooding because our farm is located on a little rise, which is higher than other shrimp farms,” said an assistant accountant at the farm, Ms Latdavanh Vongsaya, yesterday.
The rains reached Laos on Satu rday, causing flooding in some areas in the northern and central parts of the country and river levels to rise, which resulted in flooding in some low-lying parts of the country.
Some areas of Vientiane suffered minor flooding, with local roads and houses affected.
In 2008, many shrimp farms were flooded in Vientiane because of heavy rain that lasted many days, “as now, our farm was not affected,” Ms Latdavanh said.
However, the farm, which is located in Xaythany district of Vientiane, is stopping supply because its juvenile shrimp were maturing slowly.
“We stopped sales two days ago but we hope to resume supply within the next four weeks,” she said.
The juvenile shrimp were maturing too slowly to meet the high demand from Vientiane markets and the farm faced a shortage.
The demand for the farm's produce have increased this year because another major Vientiane shrimp farm, 9 Meena, halted production and supply at the end of last year to make improvements.
According to the 9 Meena farm, Vientiane restaurants require over 500kg of shrimp per day, with several large hotels and restaurants each requiring more than 20kg per day.
The Phoukham farm has 24 ponds and typically produces about 200kg of shrimp daily and the Meena farm typically produced only about 100 to 150kg of shrimp per day in 13 ponds.
The Phoukham farm supplies to Vientiane markets, such as Thongkhankham and That Luang, and also restaurants in the capital.
Currently, restaurants and markets in Vientiane are importing shrimp from neighbouring countries because domestic breeders are struggling to keep up with demand.
The restaurants have had to import frozen shrimp from Thailand to make up for the shortage in local supply.
The Meena and Phoukham farms import juvenile or baby shrimp from Thailand, as they cannot breed juvenile shrimp themselves.
The 9 Meena farm is a Lao-Thai business venture, with Lao investors holding a 15 percent share. Phoukham farm is also a Lao-Thai venture in which local investors hold a 25 percent stake.
The farms were established after Thai businesses surveyed the Ngum river and found it was suitable for commercial shrimp farming.
vientiane times
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