Farmers in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces in the southern tip of Vietnam are reportedly investing in shrimp aquaculture again, as prices have risen 20% to 30% since March. A kilo of shrimp has reportedly gone from VND 230,000 (about US $10) to VND 310,000 (US $13.64) over the past six months.
According to the head of the Bac Lieu Department of Aquaculture, Pham Hoang Giang, the Mekong Delta region province currently has 130,000 hectares of shrimp farms under cultivation.
“Export companies are having lots of contracts. Moreover, the farms are smaller this year, which pushes the prices up. Many seafood processing companies said the prices would be high until the end of the year, as many contracts haven’t been fulfilled,” he told VietNamNews Bridge.
Statistics from the Ca Mau People’s Committee show that seafood harvests in the province totaled 43,500 tons in August, of which 16,250 tons were shrimp. That’s an increase of 25% compared to the same period last year.
