Diseases shrink shrimp farms

Shrimp output this year will fall as a result of a reduction in breeding farms and outbreaks of serious diseases, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

An estimated 420,000 ha in the southern provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang are being used to raise shrimp, 80,000 ha fewer than last year.

According to Tra Vinh’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department, 13,600 ha of shrimp farms have been infected with disease.

The situation is the same in Kien Giang Province, where 43,000 ha of shrimp ponds are similarly afflicted.

There has been a decrease of nearly 3,000 ha of shrimp breeding farms in Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

Large numbers of shrimp continue to die every day because of diseases such as the MBV virus, commonly known as white-dot disease.

Trinh Tai Mon, deputy head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vinh Thuan District, Kien Giang Province, said the disease had appeared in all districts, creating heavy losses to farmers.

Vo Hong Thai, a shrimp breeder in Quang Ngai, said he borrowed money from the bank to rent two shrimp-breeding ponds.

His shrimp became ill and died after one month of breeding. His losses were estimated at over VND120 million (US$7,500).

Tran Nhu Hiep, deputy chairman of Duc Minh Commune’s People’s Committee, said he had incurred VND120 million in losses after losing two breeding batches.

An official of Quang Ngai’s aquaculture department said untreated waste water from the agriculture and industry sectors had contaminated the water used in shrimp breeding.

The lack of a co-ordinated zoning plan for shrimp breeding caused the virus to spread quickly.

Farmers in recent years have rushed into the lucrative breeding business without any thought to the environmental consequences of breeding ponds on local water, a source of contamination.

The lack of a co-ordinated zoning plan in shrimp breeding and little knowledge about diseases that affect shrimp have contributed to the problem.

Using unquarantined shrimp for breeding has also led to disease.

To control the disease, Quang Nam’s Fisheries Extension and Aquaculture Breeds Development Centre recommends that breeders treat their water before discharging it into the environment.

The provinces’ processing plants have been operating at 50-70 per cent of their capacity due to a lack of raw material.

Some shrimp breeders have shifted to rice cultivation.

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Diseases shrink shrimp farms