The Phu Thanh Ltd Co has imported 504 red-swamp crawfish (procambarus clarkii) from the US to test-breed in Soc Trang Province, but has not received a licence to do so.
Tran Hoang Dung, deputy head of the Tran De District's Centre of Agriculture and Rural Development, said local farmers had informed the centre about the matter.
When asked to prove the origin of the crayfish, Phu Thanh could only present a certificate for entering Viet Nam via Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City.
The company could not show a licence permitting them to import or breed red swamp crayfish.
According to company reports, 10.9kg of the crawfish was imported to Soc Trang Province on July 18. They are being bred in basins in Tran De District in Soc Trang Province.
As of last Saturday, at least 472 crawfish had died. There are now 22 males and 11 females. Those still living have been inoculated by the regional animal health centre.
Authorities are currently determining if they can be bred in a natural environment.
A representative of Tran De District's Centre of Agriculture and Rural Development said residents and the agriculture industry were concerned that the shrimp would attack and wipe out indigenous shrimp.
"This kind of crawfish has claws as big as a sea-crab. They are gluttonous and very fierce when hunting," Dung said.
"Red-swamp crawfish prefer marshes, swamps and slow-moving streams, and they reproduce similar to anabas. If they are bred in natural conditions, they will reproduce quickly and be ready to attack the native shrimp," he added.
The flesh of the crawfish is only 15 per cent of its weight, and the rest is shell.
Nguyen Van Khoi, deputy director of the Soc Trang Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the company did not have a licence to import and test-breed this kind of freshwater crawfish.
"The company kept delaying when asked to show its import licence. On July 27, its director Ha Van Tam sent a proposal to test-breed 1,000kg of crawfish on 10ha, but again it could not present a quarantine certificate to the Department of Animal Health," Khoi said.
According to Dr Ly Thi Thanh Loan, director of the Southern Monitoring Centre For Aquaculture Environment and Epidemics under the Research Institute for Aquaculture No 2, the crawfish, if bred on a large scale in the Mekong Delta, poses a danger to irrigation works and competition for food with indigenous shrimp.
Phu Thanh Company plans to import another 1,000kg of crawfish, but the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has not yet commented on the matter.
Environment activists and residents of the Mekong Delta are concerned that the crawfish could become invasive and damage other species or the environment, as did the fast-reproducing yellow edible snail, which destroyed harvests by eating leaves, the suckermouth catfish that attacked tra fish and basa fish, and the Mai Duong (mimosa pigra) tree which spread quickly over land and roads. (VNS)
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietfish 2026, the Vietnam International Seafood Exhibition, will officially take place from 19–21 August 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City. As Vietnam’s largest annual seafood trade event, organized by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietfish 2026 will once again bring together leading seafood companies, industry experts, and international partners from across the global seafood value chain.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports reached USD 1.1 billion in July 2026, up 4.8% compared to the same period in 2025. Cumulative exports in the first seven months of the year totaled nearly USD 6.86 billion, an increase of 11.5% year-on-year. Exceeding the USD 1 billion mark in July further reinforces the prospect that Vietnam’s seafood exports could surpass USD 12 billion in 2026. However, the July figures also send a clear signal that the most favorable growth period may have passed: overall export growth slowed to just 4.8%, pangasius exports fell 6.1%, tuna exports were virtually flat, while exports to the EU, South Korea, and the Middle East all recorded double-digit declines.
(vasep.com.vn) As part of the Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2026), the seminar "Global Seafood Market and the Future Workforce: Trends, Opportunities, and Sustainable Development Pathways for Vietnam's Seafood Industry" will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. on August 19, 2026, at Convention Room B, Level 2, SECC, Ho Chi Minh City. This is the first of five specialized seminars at Vietfish 2026, focusing on key issues that are shaping the long-term development of Vietnam's seafood industry.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnamese seafood exports recorded impressive growth, generating nearly 6 billion USD in revenue during the first six months of the year, up 13% compared with the same period last year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Fishermen in Ha Tinh are gradually overcoming difficulties to maintain the efficiency of seafood exploitation. In the first six months of 2026, the entire province achieved a production of more than 23,000 tons of seafood, worth more than 1,200 billion VND.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) June 2026 brought encouraging signs for Vietnam's tuna exports, with export value rising 20% year-on-year to nearly USD 72 million. However, this increase has yet to offset the prolonged slowdown seen in key markets such as the European Union (EU), where import demand remains weak. The outlook for the second half of the year is expected to become more challenging as freight rates continue to climb.
(vasep.com.vn) As part of the Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2026), the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in collaboration with the Agency for Domestic Market Management and Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will organize the Domestic Seafood Supply–Demand Matching Program on the morning of August 20, 2026, at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City. The program aims to foster direct business connections between Vietnamese seafood producers and processors and domestic distributors, retailers, and foodservice channels.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Cooking Show will be one of the most engaging experiential highlights of Vietfish 2026. Taking place over three days, from August 19–21, 2026, at Hall B1, SECC, Ho Chi Minh City, the event will offer visitors a vibrant culinary space where Vietnamese seafood is showcased through its flavors, stories, and real-life culinary applications.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's pangasius exports reached USD 205 million in June 2026, up 5% compared with the same month in 2025. Cumulative export value for the first six months of the year totaled USD 1.1 billion, an increase of 12% year-on-year. Growth was primarily driven by strong demand from China and CPTPP markets, while exports to the United States and Brazil continued to decline.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first six months of 2026, Ha Tinh province continued to implement comprehensive solutions to combat IUU fishing; strictly manage the fishing fleet, control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, operate vessel tracking devices, trace the origin of seafood, and severely punish violations.
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