The “barefoot billionaires,” who once got rich with farming tra fish, have become moneyless and crippled with debt.??
In 2006-2007, in the southern province of An Giang, there was a very popular statement orally transmitted: “where there is water, there would be gold mines.” Tra farming helped a lot of poor farmers become billionaires just after several farming crops. This prompted not only farmers, but also construction and food companies to farm tra fish. A lot of “big guys” in HCM City with big idle investment capital also flocked to the countryside to farm fish.
??However, things are getting quite different. The “barefoot billionaires” now bog down in big difficulties.??
A farmer in An Giang province said that a big amount of oversize fish (1.2 to 1.5 kilograms) has not been sold. Seafood companies now only collect 800 gram to 1 kilogram fish to make fillet products for export. Farmers now have to bargain away the oversize fish, even though at the prices below the production costs, to stop loss.?
