(vasep.com.vn) The Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish) under Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has organized a meeting to discuss the draft project on establishing a closed tuna production chain.
With total investment of VND760 billion, the project will run from 2014 to 2017 in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa. Under the project, VND150 billion will be used to upgrade 60 tuna fishing boats; other VND140 billion used for building infrastructure and logistic services.
So far, Vietnamese tuna exports generate more than US$500 million per year. Despite an annually increasing number of tuna fishing boats, the quality and selling prices of raw material are not much improved, leading to low profit for fishermen. In 2013, tuna exports reached US$520 million, down 10 percent year on year. Particularly, this fish saw a rise of 30 percent in export volume, but the value dropped 40 percent.
Tuna producing provinces in Vietnam need to build closed production chain to help improve the quality and export value of their tuna products.