Bac Lieu looks toward 1 billion USD in shrimp export earnings

Processing shrimp for export in Gia Rai company of Bac Lieu province (Photo: VNA)

Bac Lieu (VNA) – The southern coastal province of Bac Lieu has made shrimp farming one of the five pillars for local socio-economic development with the goal of raising shrimp export revenue to 1 billion USD by 2025. 

The province sets the target based on its natural advantages, including 56km of coast and three big river mouths and three eco-systems of salt, brackish and fresh water. Nearly half of the province’s natural area (257,000 sq. km) can be used for shrimp breeding. Bac Lieu currently produces 115,800 tonnes of shrimp a year, ranking third in the country. 

Towards the goal, the provincial administration has issued resolutions and policies to stimulate the growth of this spearhead industry. The Government’s approval of the establishment of a hi-tech shrimp farming zone in Bac Lieu provides another important condition for the province to become a national shrimp farming centre. 

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Quang Duong said the province is accelerating the restructuring of agriculture in the direction of industrialization and modernization, promoting investment in and the application of scientific-technological advances, especially bio-technology, to raise agricultural productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness, and strengthening the linkage between farming, processing and marketing. 

As a result of those policies, 10 companies and 300 households in Bac Lieu have applied technology in shrimp farming on a total area of 1,600 ha, which produce from 25-50 tonnes of products each farming season and high profit of between 500-700 million VND (around 21,500 – 30,000 USD) per ha per season. 

Bac Lieu is leading the Mekong Delta and the country as well in producing high-quality shrimp fry with an output of 25 billion fry a year, accounting for more than half of the Mekong Delta’s output and one quarter of the country’s.

The province is also a hub of shrimp processing, ranking third in the country in total design capacity of local factories.  

Bac Lieu has been chosen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop shrimp farming in accordance with criteria set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

A shrimp farm of the Viet-Uc Seafood Corporation in the province has become the first in Vietnam to meet OIE-recommended standards set for a disease-free shrimp breeding facility. 

Experts said this is a big step forward for the shrimp industry, giving Vietnam’s shrimp the “gold ticket” to enter markets with strict import requirements in the world.   

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Duong Thanh Trung said the province will continue to expand the area of shrimp farming following international standards such as Natuland, GlobalGAP, ASC and BAP, thus enhancing local shrimp products’ value and achieving sustainable development. 

 Under the province’s shrimp farming development plan, the area of shrimp farming will be expanded by an average 0.38 percent a year during 2021-2025 to 141,000 ha, including nine hi-tech farming zones.  

The annual shrimp output from farming will increase to an estimated 251,000 tonnes. In addition, seafood catches are projected at 125,000 tonnes.

The industry and trade department forecast that shrimp export will earn the province 606 million USD this year, up 14 percent from 2017.