The aquaculture industry in Vietnam harvested an estimated 306,000 metric tons (MT) of product last month, an increase of 4.2 percent compared with November 2015. For the first 11 months of the year, the total volume increased by 1.9 percent year-on-year to more than 3.2 million MT, according to new figures published by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
As usual, there was a sharp increase in the demand for raw materials in November ahead of the holiday season in importing markets, which drove up output and prices.
Farmers are busy harvesting pangasius “with good yields” to meet the year-end needs of importers, said VASEP. The farm gate price of pangasius in mid-December was between VND 20,800 (USD 0.91, EUR 0.88) and VND 22,000 (USD 0.97, EUR 0.93) per kg.
These good prices have in turn led to a rise in juvenile pangasius production, said the association.
Pangasius production in the Mekong Delta provinces during the first 11 months of this year is estimated at more than 1.1 million MT, up 1.9 percent year-on-year, while the land area dedicated to pangasius farming during this period increased 1 percent to 5,531 hectares. The provinces with the best yields so far this year are Dong Thap with 361,238 MT (up 5.6 percent), Can Tho with 152,406 MT (up 7.8 percent) and Ben Tre with 162,630 MT (up 5.9 percent).
With improvements in the weather and a reduction in the number of shrimp farms affected by disease issues, shrimp production has also increased this year. According to reports from Mekong Delta provinces, the area dedicated to black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) production increased 1.4 percent in the January through November period to 566,349 hectares with production up 2.3 percent year-on-year to 232,044 MT. Whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) production, meanwhile, increased 2.2 percent to 210,815 MT with the farming area estimated at 65,948 hectares, up 2.9 percent.
