HCMC – The coronavirus pandemic has sent the revenue of Vietnamese seafood exports down, with the outbound sales of tra fish amounting to US$456 million between January and May, dipping by 39% year-on-year.
The country saw a year-on-year drop in Vietnamese seafood exports to China, Europe and the United States over the past five months, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, the tra fish sector is expected to make a full recovery in the third quarter of 2020, VietnamPlus news site reported.
Apart from plunging tra fish exporters into difficulties, the sharp fall in the outbound shipments of tra fish saw its prices decline in the Mekong Delta region, negatively affecting the production of materials for tra fish.
The demand for tra fish from China, Vietnam’s largest tra fish buyer, is gradually rebounding as it has effectively controlled Covid-19.
However, Vietnam’s tra fish exports to other major markets including Europe, Brazil and the United States are likely to post a negative growth in the second quarter of the year as these markets are still grappling with the pandemic, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.
Tran Dinh Luan, head of the Directorate for Fisheries of Vietnam, said that to set the outbound shipments of tra fish back on track, the authorities will tighten controls over the quality of farming seafood and re-issue fish farm identification numbers in line with the Law on Fisheries.
Tra fish farmers and processors should connect to meet the market demand and avoid the shortage of aquatic products for export or a large inventory of fish, he said.
To produce high-quality tra fish breeds, the State agencies will also improve the inspection into the conditions and certifications at tra fish breeding facilities.
