China and Vietnam on Friday agreed to establish a hotline to deal with fishery incidents in South China Sea waters that have been a frequent source of tension between the two nations.

(vasep.com.vn) On June 8th 2013, in Quang Ngai province, Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) held a conference to sum up two-year activities of fishing unions established as a pilot project.

When it comes to aquaculture, people usually think of coastal regions or the Mekong Delta where shrimp and pangasius earn revenues of upto tens of billions annually.

As foreign seafood importers are shifting their orders from China to other nations, Vietnam might be their next destination after the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement (FTA) is signed, said Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

(vasep.com.vn) According to Viet Nam’s General Statistics Office, fisheries production in April totaled an estimated 409,800 MT, up 0.4 percent compared to the same period of 2012 in which finfish production declined by 0.5 percent to 321,300 MT; shrimp production registered 36,600 MT, up 4 percent; and the production of other marine products went up by 3.4 percent to 51,900 MT.

The southern central province of Ninh Thuan is installing satellite positioning machines on 77 fishing boats to facilitate fishermen’s safe and productive operation at sea and contribute to protecting the country’s sea and island sovereignty.

(vasep.com.vn) Mekong Delta produces 90 percent of rice, 65 percent of fishery products and 70 percent of fruits of the total production of the country.

(vasep.com.vn) Ca Mau province owns a total aquaculture area of 290,000 hectares, needing 15 billion of seeds annually for shrimp production.

(vasep.com.vn) On 10th April 2013, Chairman of VASEP Tran Thien Hai signed the Decision No 15/2013/QĐ-VASEP on setting up the Standing Board of Freshwater Fish Committee.

The country’s fishing output was estimated at 447,000 MT in the first two months of 2013, up 1 percent year on year, according to Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish).

(SeafoodSource) Production of pangasius in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam has increased threefold in the past ten years, rising from 500,000 metric tons (MT) to a peak of 1.5 million MT in 2008, but currently standing at around 1.2 million MT.

In February, Quang Ninh’s seafood production hit 11,622 MT, up 3.5% year-on-year, fulfilling 13.7% of the year’s target, according to the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department.

Most of the 33 seafood processors in Vietnam’s southern province of Ca Mau are facing serious shortage of unprocessed materials and now have to work at 30% of their designed capacity, the Vietnam News Agency said.

The provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta plan to increase the area for aquaculture by 2,200 ha to 745,000 ha this year, yielding 1.7 million tonnes of fish and 370,000 tonnes of shrimp.

(atuna.com) Despite unfavorable weather, fishermen in Vietnam experienced good tuna catches.