Cobia prices increased, farmers made great profits

Ly Son Island is located about 15 nautical miles from the mainland with many favorable conditions for developing marine aquaculture. Over the years, people here constantly expand the area, the number of cages to raise seafood such as lobster, cobia, grouper... However, for a long time, due to the influence of epidemics, weather, prices, etc., so the effect was not as expected. However, from the beginning of the year until now, cobia farmers here have made great profits when the price of fish is high, the output is stable, many households earn billions of dong.

According to Ms. Bui Thi Bich Hanh (residing in Dong An Hai village, Ly Son district), her family started raising cobia from 2015 until now but have never seen a year with a high price like this year. Normally, in previous years, the price of cobia usually only ranges from 110,000 to 130,000 VND/kg, in some years it is only 80,000 VND/kg, but this year the lowest price that farming households sell to traders is 180,000 VND/kg. peaks up to 220,000 VND/kg.

“This time, my family stocked 28 cages of cobia . Since the beginning of the year, more than 8 tons of commercial fish have been sold. After deducting all expenses, there is also a profit of about 1 billion dong," said Hanh excitedly.

According to households raising cobia in cages in Ly Son, this year, in addition to high prices, relatively favorable weather, less disease, and rapid growth, most households have a profit of several hundred million to several billion. copper. Under normal conditions, cobia culture period will last 12 months from stocking to harvest. At this time, the fish weight reaches about 8-10kg. However, this year, due to the high price, the cage owners decided to sell it 2 months early, so each animal only weighs 5 - 6kg.

Mr. Huynh Ngoc Thao (resident in Dong An Hai village) started farming cobia from 2017. In the early years, due to lack of experience and frequent storms, he had to move the cage to another area with poor environment. guaranteed to lead to many fish cages dying and losing money. In the following years, there are years with enough capital or little profit, but this year, the farmed fish grow well and the price is high, so his family is very excited.

This year's farming crop, Thao's family invested about 2 billion VND to raise 50 cobia cages. Up to this point, he has sold 12 tons of fish, which is expected to increase to about 20 tons by the end of the year. “On average, each kg of commercial fish from childhood to harvest has invested 100,000 VND, then each fish I sell with a weight of 5-6 kg also makes a profit of 400,000 - 500,000 VND. So, if nothing changes from now until the end of the year, my family will have a profit of over 1.5 billion dong," Thao estimates.

Regarding the cause of the current high price of cobia, Mr. Thao said that in previous years due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the consumption problem faced many difficulties, so the price decreased. Up to now, activities have returned to stability, especially the tourism market has reopened, weddings are held a lot, so the market demand is very large. The trade and transportation of goods is also more convenient, so traders come to buy and buy continuously, no matter how many products they have, they can be sold.

Mr. Vo Tri Thoi, Deputy Head of Economic - Agricultural Infrastructure Department of Ly Son district said that currently, in the district, there are over 51 households raising cobia with an average of 20-30 cages per raft. Ly Son cobia are often consumed in major tourist markets such as Da Nang, Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh).

For the development of fish cage farming at sea, Ly Son has also planned a farming area with an area of about 12ha. This is a place with a safe environment as well as convenient in moving to a safe area when there is a natural disaster, storm.

“Because the area for anchoring cages on the island is small, the district also regularly mobilizes and propagates people not to increase the number of raising households and expand the farming area moderately in the planning area. In addition, we also recommend that people choose the right time for raising and stocking to avoid damage at the end of the year because this is the time when Ly Son often suffers from storms," Thoi said.

Mr. Dang Tan Thanh, Vice Chairman of Ly Son District People's Committee said: "Currently, people working in aquaculture on the island also have a very good income. On average, each household has an income of 500 to 700 million VND after deducting all expenses. However, aquaculture in the locality is still small and not large-scale.

The district's strategy in the coming time on the fisheries sector will develop in the direction of conservation. We also propagate to people to raise awareness about preserving the marine environment and protecting aquatic resources in the island district.”

Source: Le Khanh - nongnghiep.vn