Shrimp farmers in Nghe An cautiously release new batches

Shrimp salvage

In mid-May 2024, Ho Dinh Anh's family in Quynh Bang commune, Quynh Luu district was focusing on checking machinery and renovating ponds and lagoons to prepare for releasing a new batch of shrimp. His family is one of the households in Quynh Luu district where a mass shrimp death occurred a month ago.

Anh Anh shared: The authorities have come to work and take samples for testing. However, the samples were all negative for common diseases in shrimp. Therefore, the cause of shrimp death could be due to water source, environment, breed... these issues are not possible for farmers like us to check. My family has also stopped raising shrimp for more than a month now. However, now we have to raise shrimp again, because this is our main job, if we don't do it, we won't have any income...

It is known that in the last shrimp crop, Mr. Anh's family invested about 400 million VND, including 200 million VND for seeds and 200 million VND for other expenses such as changing tarpaulins, adding lime, treating the environment, medicine... However, because all the shrimp died when they were first released, it was considered a total loss. This time, Mr. Anh decided to change the area and scale of shrimp farming with the motto "eat well and dress well"...

“Last season, I invested in 3 hectares of shrimp in 9 ponds. But because the shrimp died, people did not dare to invest much more. This time, I only released 1 pond of 3,000m2 with 500,000 shrimp, imported from Ninh Thuan province, with clear origin. The cost is much cheaper than the first season, while releasing, I monitor to see if there are any more shrimp deaths. If there are still risks, the damage is not significant. If successful, it can be considered as a partial recovery…”, Mr. Anh confided.

Not only Anh's family, but also people in Quynh Bang commune are currently preparing to release a new batch of shrimp. Mr. Vu Van Duong - Chairman of the People's Committee of this commune said: Quynh Bang is a key locality for shrimp farming in Quynh Luu district with a total area of ​​nearly 170 hectares. Currently, some households are renovating ponds, checking machinery to prepare for releasing a new batch with an area of ​​about 60%, hoping to save some of the damage.

"According to the survey, this area is concentrated in households that still have the conditions to raise the next crop. The remaining area is still left empty by people," Mr. Duong added.

Implement good technical measures

Mr. Bui Xuan Truc - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district said: For areas with dead shrimp in the area, the district has directed people to temporarily stop farming for a while to stabilize the farming environment, water source or switch to farming other species instead of shrimp.

"Because traditional shrimp farming has existed for decades and is the main source of income for households, the government cannot prevent people from continuing to invest in raising new batches. Regarding the conversion to other livestock, in fact, in recent years, some shrimp farming households have also experimented with raising fish and crabs. Although the productivity and quality are still good, the output is not as guaranteed as shrimp farming. Therefore, they have not been able to maintain it. Households must strictly follow the shrimp farming process to ensure technical requirements so that risks do not recur. The district has also issued documents and specific instructions for families to implement...", Mr. Truc emphasized.

Accordingly, the most important factor when raising shrimp is choosing the breed, because the source of healthy shrimp breed determines 50% of the success or failure of the shrimp crop. The breed released for farming must ensure quality. Absolutely do not release floating breeds of unknown origin, which have not been inspected by competent authorities according to regulations.

For water sources for shrimp farming, there must be a plan to reserve water in the reservoir and settling pond to proactively supply water when necessary. Water in the settling pond must be treated with 30ppm chlorine, treatment time 7-10 days before supplying to the pond. Always maintain the water level in the pond at least 1.3 - 1.5m. Shrimp farmers in houses with roofs need to adjust the net system to reduce direct sunlight into the pond, ventilation, and heat to reduce the greenhouse effect.

Releasing shrimp during this period will coincide with the intense heat. Therefore, people need to increase the time of aeration of pond water to provide oxygen and avoid temperature stratification in the water. Use quality food that is not moldy and limit the amount of excess food in the pond. During hot weather, reduce the amount of daily food, only feed 70-80% compared to normal. Supplement Vitamin C, minerals, intestinal probiotics, and liver supplements every 5-7 days to increase shrimp resistance.

People need to take good preventive measures to limit the penetration of pathogens into the pond such as: Controlling the water supply, fencing around the pond banks, tools and equipment must not be shared between ponds and must be disinfected after each use.

The most important thing in this shrimp crop is that people need to regularly check their ponds, take shrimp samples periodically to have effective disease prevention measures. When detecting signs of disease or unusual death of farmed shrimp, they must immediately report to the cooperative, community group and the district Agricultural Service Center to take samples for timely testing, absolutely not allowing the situation of hiding the epidemic like recently, causing mass shrimp deaths that cannot be saved.