December 3, 2008
Vietnam's southern province suffers loss in shrimp farming
Bac Lieu Province in the Mekong Delta has lost up to 197 hectares of shrimp farms in the past week, said a senior official on Monday (Dec 1, 2008).
This brings the total figure of destroyed shrimp farming acreage since the start of 2008 to 21,550 hectares, with the most affected localities being Bac Lieu Town, and the districts of Hoa Binh, Dong Hai and Gia Rai.
Shrimp farming costs has increased by 20-40 percent due to surging input prices, while the market price has declined by nearly a third from the same period last year.
It is estimated that a shrimp farmer will lose VND10-40 million (US$592-2,369) per hectare on average.
