April 13, 2016

Vietnam shrimp farms in Mekong Delta damaged

Some 1,360 hectares of shrimp ponds in Vietnam's Bac Lieu province and 2,700 hectares in Ca Mau have been damaged due to drought, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Both provinces are two of Vietnam's major shrimp growers, and are situated in the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam.

Nguyen Thi Thiet of Bac Lieu said shrimp died en masse recently. "The water is too hot and salty," she explained, according to a report by vietnamnet.vn.

Another owner of a shrimp farm in Ca Mau said he all he could do was wait for rain.

MARD Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam said the drought and saline intrusion in Mekong River Delta "is very serious", adding the volume of farmed shrimp in the months from December 2015 to March 2016 was just half that of the same period last year.

Ngo Thanh Linh, secretary general of the Ca Mau provincial Seafood Exporters and Producers (CASEP), confirmed that shrimp shortage has occurred in Ca Mau, the largest shrimp-farming province, with the supply at only 37%-38% of processing workshops' capacity.

Le Van Quang, chair and general director of aquaculture company Minh Phu Seafood, also said their factory now runs at 80%-90% of the designed capacity.