Shrimp exports are expected to earn revenue of $4.3 billion this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Department of Fisheries.

Total shrimp output is estimated at 1 million tons, the Department’s Deputy Director Nhu Van Can told a workshop in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu on October 26 to discuss solutions and technologies to cut emissions from shrimp farming and processing.

The workshop is expected to boost connectivity between shrimp farmers and cooperatives, businesses, processing facilities, and management agencies towards low-carbon, sustainable, and climate-resilient production.

UNDP Vietnam Deputy Resident Representative Patrick Haveman noted that the Mekong Delta boasts substantial potential to restructure shrimp production and supply chains with high value.

He suggested that MARD put forth mechanisms to encourage small and medium-sized farms to strengthen cooperation to produce organic, ecological shrimp products in the Mekong Delta, saying local authorities should also help them in origin and carbon footprint traceability, thus expanding the stable supply of high-quality shrimp for upscale supply chains for both domestic and foreign markets.

During the ten-year period from 2012 to 2022, the total area of brackish water shrimp aquaculture increased from 644,000 ha to 737,000 ha and total farmed shrimp output rose from 463,000 tons to over 1 million tons.

Shrimp export revenue surged 2.27-fold from $2.1 billion to $4.3 billion.

In the first eight months of this year, Vietnam earned more than $2.2 billion from shrimp exports, a year-on-year decline of 28 per cent.

It currently has over 500 enterprises processing and exporting shrimp, with a total capacity of more than 1.5 million tons a year.