Changeable weather and careless farming in Tra Vinh Province has caused pollution and killed a large number of shrimp in the area.

Shrimps die en mass in Tra Vinh

As of March, Tra Vinh had over 7,000 households raising nearly 600 million black tiger shrimp and 2,240 households raising 524 million white leg shrimp.

Changeable weather causes diseases, mostly hepathopathy in black tiger shrimp and white spots, to spread. As of now, over 987 households already lost 44 million black tiger shrimp and 75 million white leg shrimp.

Nguyen Van Tuoi, a farmer in Long Hanh Hamlet, said, "I raised over 100,000 shrimps in four ponds and they all died. I haven't dared to continue raising shrimp. I'm afraid that they will continue dying."

Duong Van Dom, head of Cau Ngang District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said asides from changeable weather, pollution caused by human had also been killing the shrimp.

Normally, the water in the shrimp ponds must be dealt with before being discharged into the environment but many farmers don't do this.

"Many households that have dead shrimps didn't clean the ponds thoroughly before raising another crop. Starting a new crop of shrimp too soon would also have negative effects. The pollution problem hasn't been solved for years. The authorities have tried to give warnings and raise people's awareness to no avail," Dom said.

Black tiger shrimp should be raised once a year while farmers can raise two crops of white leg shrimp. But in reality, many people have multiple crops of shrimps in a year.

Shrimp farming in Tra Vinh started in 1990 and flourished until the first diseases outbreak in 1994. The shrimp died en mass, causing many people to switch to another occupation. Since then, the environment has time to recover.

From 2009 until 2011, the farmers earned huge profits from the farms. Many people returned to raising shrimps and the cycle is repeated.

"It's impossible to warn the farmers now. We're planning to consult the district authorities to issue regulations about shrimp farming. At first, we'll popularise the regulations for a year and start punishing violators," Dom said.

Dtinews