The price of commercial pangasius fish has increased, many people are rushing to raise fish again, causing the price of fish fry to increase sharply - Photo: B.DAU
According to Vietnam Customs, in the first half of February 2025, pangasius exports reached more than 75 million USD, an increase of 118% over the same period last year. Accumulated pangasius exports as of February 15 reached more than 208 million USD, an increase of 5%.
China, the United States and Brazil are still the three main export markets for Vietnamese pangasius, although exports to China as of February 15 this year decreased by 8%.
Fish seed prices doubled
Mr. Nguyen Van Mung, residing in Hong Ngu City (Dong Thap Province), has four pangasius ponds with a weight of more than 0.5 kg/fish. He said that the price of pangasius meat only fluctuates from 31,000 - 32,000 VND/kg, while the price of pangasius fingerlings has skyrocketed from 55,000 - 57,000 VND/kg (30 fish/kg - PV).
However, raising pangasius this season is very difficult. Fish are lost a lot during the farming process due to erratic weather, unstable environment, and high stocking density...
"The price of pangasius fingerlings is quite high but scarce, even with money it is difficult to buy. In 2024, the price of pangasius fingerlings of 30 fish/kg was only 27,000 VND/kg, but now it has doubled. As for commercial pangasius fingerlings, it has only increased by 5,000 VND/kg compared to the same period" - Mr. Mung said and informed that there is a shortage of healthy pangasius fingerlings, fish farmers mainly buy them themselves from private fish fingerling facilities and test them to see if they are strong or weak before daring to buy.
Mr. Tran Van Phuong (residing in Binh Phu commune, Chau Phu district, An Giang), who specializes in raising pangasius fry, said that the sharp increase in pangasius fry prices was due to a lack of supply because previously many pangasius farmers had suspended their ponds, so few people raised the fry. To have a source of fry, his family collected fry from fish fry breeding facilities in the province.
"I am raising fish to meet standards to sell to pangasius farming companies. It is expected that there will be about 70 tons from three pangasius breeding ponds ready to be sold to companies. However, the loss rate when raising pangasius breeding fish is very high," said Mr. Phuong.
People flock to raise catfish
Mr. Vo Be Hien - Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary and Fisheries of Dong Thap province - said that due to erratic weather and disease, the loss rate of fish fry is very high, while the demand for breeding is high, so the price of fish fry has increased sharply.
"The price of pangasius fingerlings at 30,000 VND/kg is already a big profit for farmers. However, due to difficulties in farming and a shortage of supply, the price of pangasius fingerlings has increased to more than 55,000 VND/kg," said Mr. Hien.
According to Mr. Hien, the cost of raising pangasius fish to reach 1kg is about 26,000 - 27,000 VND/kg, while the price of raw pangasius fish has increased to nearly 32,000 VND/kg (under 1kg/fish). The high profit level has led many people to invest in raising them, pushing up the price of pangasius fish fry.
Mr. Tran Anh Dung - Head of the Department of Fisheries of An Giang province - said that because farmers have been keeping their ponds closed for a long time, the production of pangasius fry has also fallen into a similar situation.
As the price of fish increases, people rush to raise fish again, the source of fish fry mainly provided by private facilities is not enough to supply the market. Meanwhile, the aquatic breeding center is in the process of streamlining its apparatus...
"Fish fry depends entirely on the private sector, but because people are massively raising pangasius again, they cannot meet the demand. The lack of pangasius fingerling supply has pushed the price of fingerlings up. In the first six months of this year, the price of commercial pangasius will basically be stable, but with the current massive farming situation, the price of pangasius may cool down in the third and fourth quarters...", Mr. Dung warned.
Pangasius fish seed depends on private sector
According to Dr. Duong Nghia Quoc, Chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (formerly) once established a three-level pangasius breeding project, but it was only... talked about and had not yet invested.
Meanwhile, the capital for breeding pangasius is huge, but each province only provides a few tens of billions of dong, so it is difficult to do. The breeding areas are sometimes not included in the planning, so it is also impossible to do.
But when included in the planning, people's land could not be developed because there was no money for compensation. "Fish fry and fingerlings are very important in the pangasius industry chain, but for many years I have not seen this step implemented. People and businesses mainly rely on farmers' fingerling farms to buy fingerlings, while businesses do very little," said Mr. Quoc.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-ca-tra-giong-tang-nong-20250319232238352.htm
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