(vasep.com.vn) Can Tho city has exported 11,450 MT of seafood, driving total seafood exports in the first 5 months of 2013 to 57,000 MT, up 7 percent over the same time of 2012. The export turnover was US$164.2 million, making up 33 percent of the locality’s total export turnover.
Can Tho gave favorable conditions for seafood processors to link with exporters. Authorities in the locality encouraged processors and exporters to strengthen, apply and transfer techniques in production, especially advanced technologies for processing and product preservation with the aim to raise seafood products’ competitiveness and meet importers’ orders and requirements from Japan, the U.S., EU, Oceania.
Can Tho focused on diversifying products, increasing high-value products instead of exporting raw fish. It also attached importance to quality control, food safety and hygiene on seafood products. It gave priority to process shrimp, especially black tiger shrimp, frozen whole round finfish and fillet, ready-to-eat mollusk products in small packs, which are favorite products in the global markets.
To meet demand for raw material, local processors bought tens of thousands of tons of shrimp, finfish, mainly black tiger shrimp and pangasius from other localities for processing as well as expanded fish farming areas to 12,000 hectares.
Farmers in Can Tho only raised high-yield pangasius in large farming areas (2 hectares and more) with high quality water to avoid polluting water in rivers and lagoons and complied with the regulations on environment protection. Farmers were advised to sign supply contract with processors to avoid oversupply or undersupply of raw material for processing.
Can Tho applied advanced technologies in farming safe pangasius to provide high quality fish fillet for exporting. In particular farmers applied the measure of enriching useful fatty acid (Omega 3) in fish fillet by restructuring feed ingredients.
The measure helps to raise quality of fish fillet and export value of pangasius and raise its competitiveness in the global market.