Price spike sparks tra fish farming rush

HCMC – Many farmers in the Mekong Delta are racing to breed tra fish (pangasius) as tra fish prices have climbed to VND27,000 a kilo, the highest in recent years, Tuoi Tre newspaper reports.

Experts ascribed the increase in tra fish prices to strong exports to the Chinese market but China is a highly unpredictable market. Therefore, farmers may face heavy losses if market conditions turn tough.

Pham Thanh Nhi, head of the Agriculture Division in Hong Ngu District in Dong Thap Province, said local farmers have shifted from growing snakehead fish to tra fish as the price of the latter is soaring while snakehead fish are marking down.

Truong Van Dien, director of Phu Thuan B seafood cooperative in the province, said the facility has not been able to meet the strong demand.

Vo Hung Dung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius Association (VN Pangasius), said the tra fish price had risen to record highs as breeder fish are getting scarce and tra fish exports to the Chinese market are edging up.

Pangasius shipments to the northern neighbor last year accounted for 18% of the country’s total, Dung added.

Dung said the association was looking into the Chinese market to make recommendations for exporters.

Nguyen Van Nghiep, who has a tra fish farm of over 8,000 square meters in An Giang Province, said the current fish price is a big dream of farmers over the past years.