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.

Available fish sources

The pangasius sector estimated to rake in 1.67 billion USD from exports this year, an year-on-year increase of 6.6 percent.

A high demand, increased incomes and improved fish farming methods will increase the consumption of seafood in Vietnam and export abroad.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Despite unfavorable weather, fishing activities in the Central and Southern provinces reported effective results.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Oct 2016, the aquaculture and capture production of Ca Mau province (Viet Nam) reached 41.70 thousand MT, up 5.86% over the previous month and up 19.14% over the same period last year. The figure in Jan-Oct 2016 estimated at 411.10 thousand MT, completing 77.57% of the plan, and down 0.14% over the same period last year.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Sep 2016, the capture and aquaculture output of Kien Giang province (Viet Nam) totaled 60,025 MT. The figure in Jan-Sep 2016 estimated at 529,584 MT, completing 76.50% of the plan and increasing by 4% over the same period last year.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Jan-Oct 2016, fishery production in Da Nang province (Viet Nam) estimated at 30,143 MT, down 1.74% year on year. Of that, capture output reached 30,073 MT, equal to 98.26% over the first 10 months in 2015.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Oct 2016, capture and aquaculture output of Hai Phong city (Viet Nam) hit 9,194.8 MT, up 2.94% over the same period last year. The figure in Jan-Oct 2016 estimated at 96,291 MT, up 10.56% over the same period last year.

The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has produced 400,000 tonnes of pangasius a year, marking the highest output in the region.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s aquaculture output in Oct 2016 amounted to 310 thousand MT, up 8.9% compared to the same period last year. The figure in Jan-Oct 2016 estimated at 2,924 thousand MT, up 1.6% compared to the same period last year.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Unfavorable weather had influenced on fishing activities of fishermen. However, this year a number of fish species appear more such as striped tuna, mahi mahi, flying fish, flying-squid and so on. Therefore, the capture output gained positive results. Of that, some species that achieved high yield were mackerel, tuna, mahi mahi, snapper, scad and anchovies.

The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has produced 400,000 tonnes of pangasius a year, marking the highest output in the region.

Việt Nam has identified over 1,080 species of marine fish, including many highly economically valuable creatures such as the skipjack tuna, Japanese horse mackerel, yellowtail scad, largehead hairtail (or beltfish), ariid catfish, among others.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In September 2016, in Bac Lieu province (Vietnam), the stocking area for intensive and semi-intensive shrimp hit 2,224 hectares (including 1,427 hectares for black tiger shrimp and 797 hectares for whiteleg shrimp), down 1,217 hectares compared to the previous month and up 533 hectares over the same period in 2015.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Sep 2016, aquaculture and capture production of Ca Mau province (Vietnam) totaled 41.3 thousand MT, up 3.25% over the previous month, and up 18.34% over the same period last year. The figure in Jan-Sep 2016 estimated at 369.4 thousand MT, completing 69.7% of the yearly plan, down 1.93% over the same period last year.

Fishermen in south central provinces enjoyed bumper catches of tuna and got handsome profits thanks to increasing prices.