Farmers in Lao Cai Province are still incurring big losses after salmon and rainbow trout prices fell sharply since last year.

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Chau Duan Minh in Ngu Son Chi Commune said he used to sell out his fish but last year, he was only able to sell a third of the fish as the market was nearly frozen. He was unable to make sales and still had to spend money to feed the remaining fish.

Hundreds of fish farm owners in Sapa and Lao Cai City were deeply worried because the Pacific salmon would die after spawning. Lao Cai Cold Fish Association said due to Covid-19, travel was limited and the tourism sector in Lao Cai was badly affected in April. As a result, big buyers like restaurants in Sapa and Lao Cai halted contracts, leading to price drop and high inventory.

In April 2020, the fish prices dropped sharply. The price was VND200,000 (USD8.6) to VND220,000 per kilo for a whole fish and VND350,000 per kilo for fish fillet. The prices dropped by VND100,000 to VND150,000 compared to the previous years.

There were 250 tonnes of salmon in Lao Cai that couldn’t be sold until the situation got better in mid-2020.

However, salmon prices dropped again at the end of the year. The prices for rainbow trout also dropped. Vang Sin Pha from Bat Xat District said said he was getting by through just selling one fish at a time, rather than by the kilo, hoping to recover as much capital as possible. He was unable to find buyers for a tonne of rainbow trout at his farm. The price for a small rainbow trout dropped from VND130,000 (USD5.6) to VND90,000 per kilo.

“If I can sell all of the remaining fish, I still incur a loss of VND50m (USD2,100),” he said.

According to Vang Lao San, vice chairman of Den Sang Commune People’s Committee, there are 100 salmon and rainbow trout farms in Den Sang Commune alone. Many farmers have escaped from poverty thanks to the fish. But after two price drops, many of them have incurred huge losses.