February 24, 2006

Shrimp plants proliferate in Vietnam

Vietnam plans to put into operation six industrial parks (IPs) for raising breeder shrimps this year, a fisheries ministry official announced Thursday.

Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy head of the ministry's Aquaculture Department, said three of the IPs had already been completed in the central region and the southern regions. The rest would be finished by the end of the year.

Each park would have 200 to 500 farms each capable of supplying 10 million breeder shrimps annually, Vietnam News Agency reported.

In a separate project, developers are also building a seventh breeder shrimp-raising complex in Binh Thuan Province on the central coast to meet local demand.

Plans are also afoot to build an aquatic breeding and research centre at a cost of US$417,000 in central Quang Ngai province by Hong Kong-based Aqualive Asia Co. Ltd. The centre will deploy biotechnology to improve gene variety to satisfy growing demand for more advanced breeds among farmers.