The area of aquaculture and production have significantly increased despite adverse weather conditions in the early months of the year, including severe heat, drought, and off-season rains.
Nguyen Sy Minh, Deputy Director of the Fisheries Sub-Department of Kien Giang Province, reported that as of May 15, the total area of aquaculture stocked in the province was estimated to be nearly 272,600 hectares, up 3.73% from the same period last year.
The largest area is devoted to brackish water shrimp farming, covering nearly 133,000 hectares. This includes almost 106,700 hectares of shrimp-rice farming, over 24,000 hectares of improved extensive farming, and more than 2,000 hectares of commercial farming. Additionally, over 19,200 hectares are used for farming mollusks along the coast, 3,513 cages for marine fish farming, and more than 37,400 hectares for freshwater fish farming in nets, earthen ponds, and rice fields.
In May, the stocking area decreased compared to previous months as the main season for shrimp-rice and improved extensive farming passed. However, aquaculture production saw a significant increase, with over 47,000 tons harvested. This includes nearly 11,700 tons of farmed shrimp, over 3,300 tons of farmed sea crabs, and the remainder are various types of mollusks and marine fish.
Since the beginning of the year, Kien Giang has harvested more than 106,700 tons of aquaculture products, nearly a 6% y-o-y increase. This includes nearly 40,400 tons of brackish water shrimp, almost 8,000 tons of sea crabs, 1,642 tons of marine cage-farmed fish, and over 32,600 tons of mollusks.
Due to adverse weather conditions since the beginning of the year, particularly summer heat and increased salinity, over 5,160 hectares of aquaculture in Kien Giang have been damaged. This mainly affected brackish water shrimp farms applying the shrimp-rice and improved extensive farming methods.
VFM
