The ongoing ‘dead shrimp’ phenomenon is causing a great deal of damage to farmers in the Mekong Delta, estimated at about VND1trillion (US$48 million).
The hardest hit provinces of Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang, Tra Vinh and Ben Tre are suffering the severest losses with thousands of hectares faced with dying and diseased shrimps.
Vo Van Choi, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Ngoc To Commune in My Xuyen District of Soc Trang Province said that 85-90 percent of the 800 hectares under shrimp farming has had to cope with dead shrimps since the middle of March.
Although the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sent officials to survey and study areas where shrimps are dying in abundance and instructed them to seek remedies for the cause, the shrimps are continuing to die and the condition seems to be worsening.
In related news, many households breeding white bass in Kien Giang Province have fallen into debt as the fish has died in masses.
According to Duc Tri Cooperative in Binh An Commune of Kien Luong District, the white bass had been raised for almost a year. Each fish weighed about 0.9-1 kilogram and was about to be harvested when it became infected and died suddenly.
A kilogram of white bass fetches VND250, 000-270,000. Farmers have subsequently suffered a loss of over VND4billion (US$190,000).
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Shrimp diseases causing concern in Mekong Delta
