Low consumption of many freshwater aquatic products

The wholesale markets are temporarily closed, so some freshwater aquatic products in Can Tho City have reached the harvesting time with large output but slowly consumption.

Pangasius accounts for the largest proportion of fish farming in Can Tho City. Photo: K.T.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Nhon, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho City, said that the province's average output of freshwater aquatic products to customers is about 10,400 tonnes per month. This includes about 10,000 tonnes of pangasius and 400 tonnes of other aquatic products such as eel, snakehead, perch, catfish, slices, raft-raised fish, etc.

For pangasius, currently, most farming households have consumption links, so there is no backlog situation. However, the selling price is still low and even equivalent to the production cost.

In general, other aquatic products are currently sufficient to supply the market, and especially pangasius' quantity tends to increase to about 15,000 tonnes due to market demand favoring the size of 0.7-0.8 kilogram per fish. Some other fish species have slightly reduced prices, such as snakehead fish, sardines, and perch.

Specifically, some fresh aquatic products are purchased by traders at the current farming ponds, such as pangasius with size 0.7-0.8 kilogram per fish having a price from VND 22,000 to 22,500 per kilogram; Sliced ​​sardines with size 0.3 kilogram per fish having a price from VND 54,000 to 55,000 per kilogram; snakehead fish with the size from 0.5-1 kilogram per fish having a price from VND 40,000 to 41,000 per kilogram; square head perch with the size from 0.4 kilogram per fish having a price from VND 22,000 to 22,500 per kilogram; Class I eels from 0.2 kilogram per fish having the price of VND 125,000 per kilogram; crayfish with the size from 0.05-0.055 kilogram per fish having the price of VND 170,000 per kilogram.

In the domestic market, the price of snakehead fish decreased compared to the same period last year. The reason that restaurants and hotels have limited the purchase of commercial snakehead fish. On the other hand, the largest market that traders buying and selling is Cambodia. But due to the complicated situation of Covid-19 in Cambodia, importing into this market faced many difficulties, leading to lower prices of fish compared to last year.

For farmed shrimp, the current price decreased compared to the months before the epidemic broke out again by about VND 20,000-25,000 per kilogram. The reason is due to the decrease in consumption volume at restaurants, eateries, and markets.

The central and northern provinces are currently harvesting shrimp, so the shrimp quantity supplied from provinces in the south has decreased sharply. Export processing enterprises are still purchasing aquatic products, but the price is reduced by about VND 20,000 per kilogram compared to before the epidemic.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tan Nhon, the current difficulty in aquatic product consumption is due to the wholesale markets are temporarily closed, which affects some aquatic species in the area that are coming to harvest with large output but slow consumption.

Besides, currently, neighboring provinces are implementing social distancing. It isn't easy to circulate vehicles from markets outside the province to collect, so farmers cannot sell large quantities of aquatic products but only retail on the spot.

In addition, due to the closure of traditional markets, the number of food supply locations is not enough, so the supply chain of goods is difficult, especially where there are few or no supermarkets. Furthermore, the trading situation and supplying products from other provinces and cities to Can Tho City is also difficult. Therefore, it will likely affect the supply of aquatic products for a long time.

Following the direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho province has regularly updated information on the market, prices, measures to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic, the import and export situation through border gates, etc. to promptly notify businesses, cooperatives, seafood production and business establishments in the province, deploy support policies for businesses affected by the epidemic such as Resolution No. 41/2020/NQ-CP and Resolution No. 42/2020/NQ-CP dated April 8, 2020 of the Government.