The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) partnered with the People's Committee of Bac Lieu Province to hold the 2025 Brackish Water Shrimp Industry Development Conference on February 14, in Bac Lieu Province. The conference aimed to evaluate current challenges and propose solutions to promote shrimp farming, with a target of US$4.3 billion in exports.
According to the Directorate of Fisheries under the MARD, in 2024, Vietnam had over 749,000 hectares of brackish water shrimp farms, producing 1.29 million tons—an increase of over 15 percent compared to 2023. White-leg shrimp production exceeded 951,000 tons, with export revenue totaling $3.95 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year. For 2025, the Directorate of Fisheries set goals of 750,000 hectares of shrimp farming, total production between 1.3 and 1.4 million tons (including over 1 million tons of white-leg shrimp), and export revenue between $4 billion and $4.3 billion.
To achieve these targets, the Directorate of Fisheries recommended that local authorities allocate sufficient resources, finances, and manpower, while prioritizing infrastructure for irrigation, electricity, and transportation in key shrimp farming areas. Additionally, effective environmental monitoring and early warning systems should be implemented to provide timely guidance for farmers, along with disease prevention measures and best practices to maximize shrimp farming efficiency and minimize losses.
At the conference, Ms. Tran Thuy Que Phuong, Head of the Office of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), shared the forecast that businesses will continue to face a shortage of raw shrimp at the start of 2025 and will face ongoing competition with Ecuador and India over price and supply.
Exports to the US will be impacted by two anti-dumping and countervailing duty lawsuits. Meanwhile, demand in the Chinese market will recover more strongly, and there are higher expectations for potential markets such as Australia, the Middle East, the UK, and South Korea. Some experts also suggested that US tax policies on countries like Ecuador and China could create an opportunity for Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the US, provided the right strategies and solutions are utilized.
To meet the 2025 export target, VASEP recommended that effective and practical support policies be introduced for businesses and farmers, including easier access to capital, addressing issues related to compliance costs and administrative procedures, stabilizing input costs such as shrimp feed, and enhancing juvenile shrimp quality control. It also called for the expansion of farm certification systems for traceability, investment policies to encourage farming beyond white-leg shrimp, and the maintenance of strengths in black tiger shrimp farming.
During the conference, Deputy Minister of MARD Phung Duc Tien urged local authorities to develop a comprehensive solution for shrimp industry development. In areas with potential, shrimp farming zones should be expanded sensibly, with a focus on securing raw materials, controlling environmental conditions and diseases, ensuring strict juvenile shrimp management, and guaranteeing that shrimp products are safe from farm to table. He emphasized the need for a special policy framework tailored to the shrimp industry.
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