Distributors have launched urgent consumption campaigns to ‘rescue’ tropical rock lobster. Fresh lobsters are being carried from Khanh Hoa, the home of this kind of lobster, to Hanoi by air.

In a letter calling for support to boost consumption of Khanh Hoa’s tropical rock lobster, enterprises say that China suddenly stopped importing lobsters from Vietnam, which left hundreds of tons of lobsters unsold in Khanh Hoa.

After getting the nod from Khanh Hoa’s agencies, some large enterprises have built a lobster production-consumption chain, helping farmers boost lobster sales.

Under the ‘rescue’ program, fresh lobsters will be carried by air to Hanoi. Each lobster weighs 1.1-1.4 kilogram and the selling price is VND1.55 million per kilogram.

In the domestic market, the lobsters are offered at VND1.6-1.9 million per kilogram. Merchants say the prices are quite low. 

In general, lobster is listed as high-end seafood with selling prices of VND2-3 million per kilogram.

Tropical rock lobster, the most expensive lobster available in the market, is selling slowly despite price cuts, because people have to tightened their purse strings.

There are many lobster farms in Vietnam; the country’s total output is 4,000 tons a year. 

Tropical rock lobster has high value and brings turnover of VND2 trillion. China is the biggest consumer of Vietnam’s tropical rock lobster, accounting for 98-99 percent.

However in May 2023, exports to China dropped dramatically as the country amended its law on wildlife protection, which says tropical rock lobster is on the list of fisheries subject to a ban on catching, using and trading. 

Tran Ngoc Sy, who has been farming lobsters for 25 years, said he has always been able to sell the lobsters. Sy and his family has 15,000 lobsters this crop.

In previous years, lobsters sold at VND1.7-1.8 million per kilogram, but prices have dropped by half.

In the latest news, officials of Vietnamese and Chinese agencies met and agreed to solve the problem with a special mechanism which will be mentioned in a protocol to be signed between the two countries.

Tam An