Tuna being processed for export at Binh Dinh Seafood JSC. (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Developing concentrated aquaculture areas,strengthening linkages among stakeholders, optimising costs, increasing the useof technology, and building brands are among the measures that would add valueto the aquaculture sector, according to the Directorate of Fisheries.
Addressing a roundtable in Ho Chi Minh City on November 22, Tran Dinh Luan, DeputyGeneral Director of the Directorate, highlighted the importance of the aquaculture sector in the country’s agricultural production and exports.
Productivity and output have increased significantly in recent years, withoutput exceeding catches from the sea, he said.
The increase in the use of technology has obviously helped increase aquacultureproductivity and output, Vu Duyen Hai from the directorate said.
Demand for aquaculture products is expected to continue increasing in thecoming years, especially in developing countries, he said.
The free trade agreements the country has signed will throw up opportunitiesfor Vietnamese firms to increase production and export, he added.
But the sector faces challenges, Hai and other participants said.
Vietnam is among the world’s largest aquaculture producers and exporters, butits costs are high compared to other countries in the region, they said.
Other challenges included a lack of infrastructure, small scale of farming,intense competition in the global market, technical barriers put up by importingcountries, and lack of brands, they added.
Truong Thi Le Khanh, Chairwoman of the Vinh Hoan Co. Ltd., to raise the valueof aquaculture products, Vietnam need to improve from the improvement of theproduct quality from varieties to farming and processing technologies.
She called on businesses and producers to adopt advanced production technologies,automate processing, diversify products and strengthen linkages amongstakeholders to cut costs and improve quality.
Besides, enterprises should pay due attention to by-products and invest more inprocessing to raise the value for the sector.
Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP), said the Government should zone areas foraquaculture and processing plants and identify what species to breed with afocus on encouraging closed production models, linkages in production chainsand adoption of modern technologies to improve productivity and reduce costs.
The sector should acquire aquaculture certificates demanded by large importmarkets, further clamp down on the use of chemicals and antibiotics, anddevelop brands, he said.
The fisheries industry earned 7.4 billion USD from exports in the first 10months of the year and will surely meet the full-year target of 9 billion USD, Hoesaid.
Shrimp exports are expected to be worth 3.8 billion USD and tra fish, 2.2billion USD, he said.
Organised by the directorate, VASEP and GIZ, the event was held to discuss thecurrent situation in the aquaculture sector and measures to improve itsefficiency and increase investment in it. - VNA
VNA
