Nghe An farmers worry about shrimp disease after storm

(Baonghean.vn) - Storm No. 10 has damaged dozens of hectares of shrimp nearing harvest time in Hoang Mai town, Quynh Luu district. After the storm, people are worried that the remaining shrimp will be infected with disease.

During storm 10, the biggest loss in shrimp farming was at Hai Tuan Company Ltd., Quynh Lien commune, Hoang Mai town; with 12 shrimp ponds covering an area of ​​5 hectares, the shrimp were 45 - 50 days old and expected to be harvested in just a few weeks.

However, high tides have submerged the entire shrimp farming area, causing a loss of about 70%. Saltwater intrusion has brought with it a lot of waste and impurities, causing serious pollution to the ponds.

Mr. Pham Van Giang, a technical officer of the company, said: The biggest concern now is that the remaining shrimp will be infected because the water in the pond is too salty and full of mud. The company has treated the pond with disinfectants such as BKC and Idodine; at the same time, the shrimp are collected and gathered in some ponds for easy monitoring and care. We have to wait about a week to know whether the shrimp are safe or not.

Hai Tuan Company Limited is moving shrimp to treated ponds to prevent disease. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Mr. Nguyen Van Suong's family in Block 7, Quynh Xuan Ward has 2 ponds, and has managed to rescue young shrimp from one pond to escape the storm. The other pond is near the river bank, so it is flooded with salt water. Shrimp are susceptible to coccidiosis and intestinal diseases. In addition to disease prevention, he is hiring people to drain the water, dry the pond, and sprinkle lime powder to disinfect to eliminate pathogens for the next crop.

"Despite applying technical measures, there is still fear that saltwater has seeped into the soil. For decades, shrimp farmers in this area have never encountered such saline pond water, so the adaptability of white-leg shrimp will be more difficult," said Mr. Nguyen Van Suong.

During storm No. 10, the biggest damage in Hoang Mai town was in the aquaculture sector with 55 hectares, of which shrimp alone was 49 hectares. In addition, hundreds of hectares of vegetables were flooded and rotten. Currently, localities are directing people to actively handle ponds, count the damage to promptly have support policies.

Mr. Vu Tuan Dung - Vice Chairman of Hoang Mai Town People's Committee said: The town has assigned staff to directly go to the area to closely monitor the situation to promptly direct and guide people on how to overcome the situation. In the long term, the town will have projects to upgrade some low dike sections to prevent saltwater intrusion, minimizing damage to the people.

Shrimp farmers in Quynh Xuan ward drain all the water to treat their ponds to prepare for the next shrimp crop. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Storm No. 10 combined with high tides has flooded dozens of hectares of shrimp farming area in Quynh Luu. Currently, shrimp farming households in the district are urgently overcoming the consequences and handling diseases in their ponds.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hien in Mai Giang 1 hamlet, Quynh Bang commune has 2.5 hectares of shrimp farming area for the second crop, which has only been released for more than a month. The storm caused heavy rain, the Mai Giang river overflowed the dike and flooded the entire farming area of ​​his family. After the water receded, he hired workers to pull the net, the output was only 200 - 300 kg of shrimp; the rest of the shrimp died, causing a loss of about 400 million VND.

To remedy the situation, he used lime powder to drop into the pond, used chlorine to treat the pathogens in the water and then drained the water. When the pond was dry, he continued to use a sludge suction machine and used lime to treat it before pumping water back in.

"The storm has left serious consequences for shrimp farmers. If the farming environment is not treated, the risk of disease spreading is very high," said Mr. Hien.

According to statistics, the whole district has 50 hectares of shrimp farming area damaged, concentrated in the communes of Quynh Bang, Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong, An Hoa and Quynh Thanh.

In order to prevent the spread of the disease, the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development directed the communes to propagate to the people to quickly overcome the consequences and treat the pond environment. Damaged households need to treat the water source according to the correct process before discharging the waste. After draining the water, the pond needs to be cleaned, dried and treated with lime powder to continue raising if conditions permit.

For households in affected areas, it is necessary to repair their ponds, increase lime and microorganisms to stabilize the water environment. It is recommended that households who continue to raise shrimp in the off-season should strictly follow the procedures to limit unnecessary risks, especially now that it is the rainy season./.

Thanh Thuy - Viet Hung