GENERAL INFORMATION

Vietnam, with a coastline of over 3,260 kilometers (km) and more than 3,000 islands and islets scattered offshore, plus up to 2,860 rivers and estuaries, has been geographically endowed with ideal conditions for the thriving fishery sector which currently exists.

Great potential of fishery sector in Vietnam is embedded in water bodies of 1.700.000 ha in which 811.700 ha freshwater, 635.400 ha brackish waters and 125.700 ha coves and 300.000 - 400.000 ha wetland areas might be employed for aquaculture development.

The Mekong River Delta in the south and the Red River Delta in the north have been used for wild catch fishing as well as extensive fish farming.

Shrimp and pangasius mostly farmed in the Mekong River Delta, in which, shrimp farmes located in coastal provinces such as Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Ben Tre..

Pangasius farming is developing in many provinces in Mekong River Delta such as Can Tho, Vinh Long, Tien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Tra Vinh....

Production in the fishery sector grew at an average rate of 7.05% from 1991 to 2000, and 10% from 2001 to now. Vietnamese fisheries production increased steadily YoY. Aquaculture output tent to sharply rise while capture ouput tend to slow down. In 2023, aquaculture occupied 59%, fishing output occupied 41%. From 2018-2023, ratio of fishing output has decreased from 46% to 41% of total fishery production in Vietnam. In 2023, total aquaculture area was 5.408 million tons, up 3.5%; total fishing output was 3.861 million tons, equal to 2022.

Seafood production continues rising in September

16:37 10/15/2015

(vasep.com.vn) Data from Directorate of Fisheries showed that in September, Vietnam produced nearly 600,000 MT of seafood, up 1.1% year on year. Through September, over 4.8 million MT of seafood has been supplied so far this year, representing a 2.8% increase from last year's results.

Capture in September was 284 thousand MT, up 3% year-on-year. Cumulative capture for 9 initital months of the year was 2,262 thousand MT, up 4%. Marine capture outweighted inland catches.

Aquaculture surpassed capture. In September only, farmed seafood was 315 thousand MT, stayed flat from last year. Cumulative aquaculture volume was 2584.2 thousand MT, up 2%.

Pangasius and blackish shrimp continued to be major farmed species in the first 9 months of this year. While pangasius volume rose 10% year on year to 757 thousand MT and black tiger shrimp volume upped 20% to 220 thousand MT, those for vanamei dived to 190 thousand MT.

It is noted that pangasius farming area stayed nearly the same at 4.2 thousand hectares. Farming area for black tiger shrimp increased by 3.5% to 613 thousand hectares. In contrast, those for vanamei shrunk to 72 thousand hectares.