Shrimp farming profession plummets without braking: When will it be like the old days?

In its heyday, shrimp always maintained its monopoly, and throughout the farming regions, people prioritized choosing it because of its completely outstanding economic benefits. Shrimp helped people change their lives rapidly, which is an undeniable truth. But the beautiful memories have drifted into the distant past; now things have changed, pushing farming to a complete standstill.

Just look at the unstoppable slide of Hung Hoa Agricultural Service Cooperative 2 (Vinh city, Nghe An) to see how tragic it is. After 20 years, everything has completely turned upside down, to the point that even those involved cannot believe it.

It is remembered that in the early 2000s, cooperative members were still loyal to the traditional sedge-growing profession, but when they realized that the market was no longer "interested," the leadership of Hung Hoa Cooperative 2 had a meeting to discuss and agree to ask for a policy of converting much of the area to aquaculture, taking shrimp as the flagship.

It is true that shrimp farming costs little capital but brings huge profit. However, the costs are spread out widely, forcing farmers to make detailed calculations to easily cope. Initially, most of them only piloted shrimp farming on a small scale. Only after a period of time, when farmers saw the farming as convenient, did they gradually increase the scale. It should be added that on that day, the flow and water were not affected much, so the treatment stages were minimized, investment costs were within the allowable threshold, and the market was priced, helping many households earn billions of dong easily as a joke.

Just by investing capital to make a profit, this profession has developed very prosperously. Through three conversions, the shrimp farming area of Hung Hoa Cooperative was increased to 120 hectares, attracting about 500 households to participate. At that time, the atmosphere was like a festival, with constant laughter all year round. 

It seemed that the shrimp would firmly cling to this land, but unexpectedly, fate turned around quickly, so it is now so tragic that the people involved had to bitterly exclaim, "The number of successful households is probably less than 10 fingers; the rest are miserable from beginning to end; no matter what crop they raise, they lose money on that crop. The situation continues endlessly, pushing the majority into a state of exhaustion," sadly said Mr. Tran Huy Thao, an experienced farmer in Phong Hao land, Hung Hoa commune. 

Richness is thanks to shrimp, and difficulties also come from shrimp. From having a lot of money, now most households are empty-handed; debt piles up; and wealth, capital, and red books seem to vanish without a trace. Insufficient capital forces many households to quit the profession, leaving their ponds empty. As a result, the area has decreased sharply over the years. Within the entire Hung Hoa Cooperative, only about 30 hectares remain, with about 70 families still clinging to the profession. It is worth mentioning that the difficult situation still shows no signs of slowing down. Preliminary records from the beginning of 2024 until now estimate that 90–95% of farming households are suffering losses. At this rate, the shrimp farming profession along the Lam River will soon disappear.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan, residing in Phong Yen hamlet, is personally also very confused, sometimes wondering how long he can stay in his profession. The situation is getting worse and worse. In 2023, the family was lucky to make a little profit, hoping this would be a stepping stone to create momentum to prosper again. But in the end, it's still a boring scenario.

"Since the beginning of the year, I have stocked three times, but all failed. Every 15-20 days, shrimp get sick and die en masse. Because no one knows whether the reason is seed or water sources, farmers still have to contrive to solve the problem and bear losses. The people's money has been exhausted for a long time. Many families want to get a part of their money back but no longer have the ability. The situation is completely opposite from that in the past, when there was never a break from work, machinery and equipment in the pond operated 24/24, and the electricity at night lit up the whole area," Mr. Hoan sadly recalled the golden days.

Mr. Dinh Quoc Trung, Deputy Director of Hung Hoa Agricultural Service Cooperative 2, is also an expert in the profession and has experienced enough ups and downs, so he understands the sad actual situation better than anyone else: "The area has decreased sharply. Many households quit the profession, partly due to the State's land recovery policy to serve key projects. In addition, there are countless other obstacles. The reality is that the environment and water sources are seriously polluted, the weather is unusual, most of the seed are floating and not guaranteed, and the management and appraisal of input quality are left open. Hundreds of things gather, causing the pressure to pile up more and more."