Nguyen Thanh Nhon (L) with some of his lobsters. In recent years, the caged lobster industry in Vietnam has been witnessing a decline (Photo: trangtraiviet.vn)Phu Yen (VNA) - “Lobster debt can only clearedwith lobster!,” declared Nguyen Thanh Nhon, the “Lobster King” of Song Cau townin the coastal province of Phu Yen.
He would know: the 51-year-old man has seenhis fortune made and destroyed – a lobster fortune crashing to lobster debtbefore being restored with lobster – several times over by the prizedcrustacean. A very early adopter of lobster cultivation, Nhon has seen manyothers come to this region to start their own businesses. Listening to rumorsof good earnings, people from all over Vietnam come here for a “lobster dream”.
But this very influx of people precludesthem from reaching their dreams.
He would know: the 51-year-old man has seenhis fortune made and destroyed – a lobster fortune crashing to lobster debtbefore being restored with lobster – several times over by the prizedcrustacean. A very early adopter of lobster cultivation, Nhon has seen manyothers come to this region to start their own businesses. Listening to rumorsof good earnings, people from all over Vietnam come here for a “lobster dream”.
But this very influx of people precludesthem from reaching their dreams.
The local authorities cannot managefarmers, cages or surface areas for lobster cultivation. Therefore, theuncontrollable development has led to the lack of juveniles, environmentaldestruction and crop failure.
Nhon, meanwhile, persists.
Nhon was born near Tu Nham village in SongCau town’s Xuan Thinh ward, the original place of Vietnam’s caged lobsterfarming industry.
“Thirty years ago, no one ever thought ofraising a lobster. Some villagers accidentally caught juveniles and raised themin fish cages for fun. Those lobsters developed quickly and brought hugeprofits. Eventually, several people followed suit. They invested to buy cagesand juveniles, and planned to make money,” recalled Nhon.
Married in 1996 and struggling to make endsmeet, he and his wife spent all they had to buy 11 juveniles and raised them intheir relatives’ cages. Spending a bit of money to buy feed, they earnedpositive profits from this business.
Nhon and his three siblings then cooperatedto buy cages and farm about 800 lobster. After one year and a half, thoselobsters yielded 80 million VND (3,500 USD) for each of them.
“Eighty million was a huge amount of moneyback then, we can even open a restaurant! However, I decided to invest more forbigger earnings. We borrowed from our relatives and took loans to buy nearly3,400 juveniles for 57 cages. The lobsters developed very well, which promisedto bring in billions of đồng in profits. However, in September 2001, the stormNo.8 destroyed all our cages in Xuân Đài Bay just in one night. All our moneyhad drifted away. Debts piled up. We cannot even cry,” said Nhon.
The loss, however, did not discourage him.
After four years of slogging away at payingdebts, in 2005, Nhon started all over again. With another loan, he bought 17 lobstercages in Xuan Dai Bay. Juveniles were getting rarer and more expensive whileseveral diseases were threatening his stock. Fortunately, in 2006, Nhon finallycould sell 17 cages’ worth of lobster production, earning 200 million VND (8,800 USD).
Nhon is a significant farmer who has stayedthe longest with lobster aquaculture, according to Le Minh Hoan, Chairman of XuanThinh ward People’s Committee.
“He is engaging in finding suitable farminglocations and investing in technological innovations to control diseases,” saidHoan.
However, the density of cages has destroyedthe bio system and caused inadequate water quality conditions.
“In the recent 10 years, lobstercultivation has witnessed a decline. Nhon is also struggling with pollutedfarming areas, poor quality juveniles and unstable selling prices. At thepresent, several ‘lobster millionaires’ are cutting investments to reducerisk,” added Hoan.
[Phu Yen applies high technology in shrimp farming]
According to Truong Hoang Ngoc, Chairman ofXuan Thinh ward Farmer’s Union, profits from lobsters are decreasing. However,to farmers who stay with this career like Nhon, lobster farming is the onlyway.
“I want my life, my children’s lives tohave a brighter future. In 2007, the price of juveniles fell, then I bought9,000 of them. In harvesting season, thanks to the rising lobster price, weearned 2.2 billion VND (97,000 USD) in profits,” he said.The market fluctations and environmentalpollution are challenging lobster farmers like Nhon. “However, since we havepursued this job for a life time, it’s better to continue,” he concluded.-VNA
VNA
