Vietnam Moves to Cut Aquaculture Acreage in 2009
Vietnam will reduce its aquaculture acreage by 35,000 hectares to 1.06 million hectares in 2009, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The reduction will cut the country’s estimated production of aquatic products to 2.3 million tons, including 1.2 million tons of pangasius, 280,000 tons of sugpo prawn, and 100,000 tons of white-leg shrimp.
Vice Head of the MARD’s Aquaculture Department, Bui Duc Quy explained that the move is prompted by a fall in global demand for shrimp due to the current global economic crisis.
He said that several traditional markets for Vietnamese shrimp, such as the U.S. and Japan, have temporarily cut shrimp imports and the price of shrimp in the domestic market has fallen to its lowest level for ten years.
The MARD has requested that localities strictly enforce and abide by regulations governing facilities, environmental hygiene, and the quality of breeding stock.
Local authorities must ensure that knowledge of up-to-date aquaculture techniques and methods of disease prevention are made available to shrimp farmers.
Moreover, they must also manage and monitor the quality of feed and the use of chemicals at breeding farms across the nation. (VNA, Vasep)
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