Contributed by: Anonymous
Seafood Supply
03 Dec, 2011 19:10:17
Floods hit Vietnam's Mekong delta seafood sector
HANOI, Asia Pulse (LBO) - Vietnam's supply of seafood materials for
processing has declined significantly as a result of continued flooding in
the delta in the last few months in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
In Kien Giang Province, for example, the volume of rainfall and floods has
changed the environment around shrimp-farming ponds, and as a result, many
shrimp have died.
Nguyen Danh Hien, director of Minh Phu Aquaculture Company, said he had
expected his 100ha-farm would yield 1,500 tonnes of shrimp, as in previous
farming crops, but the actual yield this year was only 500 tonnes.
He said flood waters had dissolved the salinity in ponds, causing shrimp to
die.
Other farms in the province have had a low yield as well.
The price of shrimp used as raw materials for seafood processing has risen
to VND270,000, or about VND14,000 over the last crop.
Tran Chi Vien, deputy director of Kien Giang Province's Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development, said the department had urged
aquaculture farmers to expand shrimp farming by 200ha to meet the current
shortage.
In An Giang Province, the supply of tra (pangasius) fish is also
insufficient.
The total area of tra fish farming ponds has reduced of 500ha compared with
last year, according to Pham Thi Hoa, deputy director of An Giang
Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, the companies affected most are small- and medium-sized ones.
Big processing companies have their own aquaculture farms, so they are able
to control supply. Some of the aquaculture farmers were even supplying
seafood for them via contracts signed at the beginning of the current crop.
According to Dong Thap Province's Department of Fisheries, many big
processors in the province have a sufficient supply of seafood for
production.
Farms in the province have harvested 3,090,130 tonnes of tra fish from
812ha. However, the department predicts a drop in yield for the coming crop
because of a shortage of fish fries, which was caused by the impact of
floods.
VietNet Weblog
http://weblog.viet.net/article.php/20111205172636956