Processing Tra fish for export (Photo: VNA)Can Tho (VNA) – The Tra fish industry aims to earn 1.6 billion USD from tra fish export,and produce between 1.6 – 1.7 million tonnes of tra fish products in 2022,according to Nhu Van Can, head of the Aquaculture Department of the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Speaking at aconference hosted by the ministry in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho onFebruary 25, Can said new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam is a member have brought opportunities for Vietnam to promotetra fish exports to the EU and US markets.
However, trade barriers and increasingly strict regulations in import marketsrequire Vietnam’s tra fish exporters to make changes to their operations, he noted.
Participants at the conference (Photo: VNA)According to To Thi Tuong Lan, deputy general secretary of the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VSEP), prices of tra fish are forecast to increase by 5 percent this year compared to 2021.
Meanwhile, good recovery has been seen in China, the US, membernations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the European Union (EU), which are thebiggest importers of Vietnamese tra fish, with respective growth rates of 31percent, 23 percent, 13 percent and 6.6 percent.
Prices of tra fish haveincreased very high since early this year, bringing an opportunity for farmersand businesses to continue to expand production.
Lan, however, said that the aquaculture industry needs to build appropriate orientationsfor tra fish farming to ensure a balance between supply and demand, and a stabilityof price and profit.
At the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung DucTien requested the Directorate of Fisheries to build projects and set tasks in orderto improve the quality of youngtra fish serving commercial farming.
Seafood processingenterprises should also pay special heed to developing linkages with farming areas,and keeping a close watch on market situations, thus being ready to seize opportunities, Tien said.
Last year, there were over 5,850 ha of Tra fish farming in the Mekong Delta, up 10 percent from 2020, with total output of 1.52 million tonnes, an increase of 1.63 percent. /.
