Challenges to shrimp production in the Bentre province, Vietnam

Abstract

Shrimp world production in the last few years has shows very high growth rates. In Vietnam in general and Bentre in particular, shrimp farming has rapidly developed recently and become an important economic sector, creating employment, increasing farmers’ income and earning foreign currency for the country. However, shrimp farming in Bentre is facing a number of challenges that hinder the sustainable development of the sector. The development has been through unplanned expansion of the number of farms, households, farming area, and recently farming intensification. The shrimp farming is small-scale in nature, based mainly on individual households. The fast growth of the shrimp farming has led to negative environmental impacts in both the short term and long term with mangrove degradation, ecological imbalance, pollution and outbreak of diseases. Management of the industry is facing many obstacles regarding planning, seed supply, irrigation development, capital mobilization and environmental protection. Although shortcomings have been pointed out by the Vietnamese Government for many years, they still remain. To be sustainable, careful consideration should be given to appropriately understand and address these issues. Therefore, this study will provide an analytical overview of shrimp farming industry in Bentre. Additionally, the relevant aspects of shrimp aquaculture development, major problems faced by the industry and a synthesis of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of shrimp farming will be highlighted. Finally, shrimp trade as well as infrastructure, management and policy issues of the sector will be analyzed and discussed in order to provide the implications for sustainable shrimp farming development in Bentre.