Farmers stuck with Tra fish as price sinks lower

Tra fish being processed for export at Hung Ca Company Ltd in southern Dong Thap Province's Thanh Binh District. Falling prices of tra fish are worrying farmers. - VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

Nguyen Ngoc Hai, chairman of Thoi An Tra Fish Co-operative in Can Tho City, said the price for fish meeting export criteria (0.7-0.9 kilo a fish) was VND18,500-19,000 a kilo, down VND1,500-2,000 compared to a fortnight ago.

At that price, farmers have suffered a loss of VND500-1,000 a kilo.

Tran Thi Lan in Can Tho City said her family had sold 100 tonnes of tra fish and lost VND100 million (US$4,500).

"Tra fish processing plants haven't bought my fish, so every day I had to sell a few tonnes to traders for VND16,000-17,000 a kilo," she said.

Other farmers have not been so lucky, as they have not been able to find a trader to sell their fish, she said.

In recent years, fish processing companies have spent funds setting up tra fish breeding areas, leaving fewer orders from farmers who raise tra fish.

When exports decline, processing companies usually give priority to process their own fish, so farmers without sale contracts face no sale outlets and price declines.

The recent decline of tra fish purchases from several large markets like the EU and China have also caused difficulties for Viet Nam's tra fish exports, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The quantity of tra fish that processing companies that breed themselves, under sales contracts with farmers, accounts for 70-80 per cent of fish used for the companies' production, according to Hai.

The processing companies now have enough fish, and as a result, will not have to increase the price paid to farmers without sales contracts when exports begin to rise.

The country's tra fish exports reached US$718 million as of mid-June, up 5.5 per cent against the same period last year, according to Viet Nam Customs.

Vo Thi Thu Huong, deputy general secretary of the Viet Nam Pangasius Association, said that it would promote sustainable development of tra fish by organising the Mekong Chef contest in Can Tho City in September.

The contest aims to promote domestic consumption of tra fish and raise awareness about the value of tra fish.

By the end of this quarter, the association will also hold a seminar on SUPERSEAS project (Supermarket Supported Area-based Management and Certification of Aquaculture in Southeast Asia), according to Huong.

During the first half of the year, the delta bred 4,341ha of tra fish, down 4.1 per cent year-on-year, according to the Directorate of Fisheries. More than 545,700 tonnes of tra fish were harvested, up 2.3 per cent against the same period last year.

The price of tra fish has fallen in recent years, resulting in fewer breeding areas.

In the first months of this year, the price of tra fish was VND22,000 a kilo as China imported a large quantity of tra fish from the delta.

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