Catfish prices have continued to rise in the Mekong Delta after the Vietnamese New Year last Saturday, reaching a record level of nearly 17,000 VND (1.06 US$) per kilogram.
Some businesses said the low output of tra and basa catfish on farms this year had forced their prices up.
The higher prices have encouraged more farmers in the delta to invest in expanding their fish farms, also forcing up breeding stock prices considerably. It now costs 2,200 VND to 4,000 VND per fry.
Last year Vietnam exported tra and basa to 65 countries and territories, earning a record 700mio US$. The major markets included the European Union which bought almost half its exports, Russia, and the US.
The country hoped to earn 1 billion US$ from catfish exports this year, said Ngo Phuoc Hau, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP)’s Mekong Fresh Fish Committee.
Tra and basa, inhabitants of the Mekong River in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, were brought for cultivation in ponds, lagoons, and rivers in Vietnam’s southern An Giang and Dong Thap provinces in the middle of the last century. Scientists started artificially breeding tra in 1978 and basa in 1990.
Nowadays, the catfish are bred in half the Mekong Delta provinces besides several central and northern provinces. Its cultivation and processing have created jobs for thousands of farmers.
With support from EUROGAP, a Swiss organization issuing quality certification for aquatic produce, VASEP and the Vietnam Aqua Service Company have been working on quality standards for Vietnamese catfish. The task is expected to be completed this year.
Source: Thanh Nien mekong capital vinacapital
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