Fisheries production in the first seven months of this year up 4.4 per cent

Aquaculture

Aquaculture production in July was estimated at 388.4 thousand tons, an increase of 5.4 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of this figure, fish production reached 277.6 thousand tons, up 3 per cent and shrimp yield gained 77.2 thousand tons, increasing by 15.1 per cent.

Regarding tra fish farming, its production in July reached 90.5 thousand tons, up 2 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of this figure, Dong Thap province’s tra fish yield reached 34.5 thousand tons, which was followed by An Giang province at 18.3 thousand tons and Can Tho province at 14.5 thousand tons.

In the first seven months of this year, Dong Thap province recorded a positive increase in tra fish production of 14.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. Particularly, its tra fish farming area was 1,688.31 ha, bringing about 250.9 thousand tons. However, tra fish production of the provinces of An Giang, Can Tho and Ben Tre registered a downward trend. Particularly, tra fish production in An Giang reached 194.4 thousand tons, a reduction of 3.6 per cent, followed by Can Thơ province, reducing by 4.6 per cent to 80.7 thousand tons and Ben Tre province, dropping by 12.6 per cent to 104.6 thousand tons. Also, tra fish farming area in the provinces of Me Kong Delta region was estimated at 3,921.6 ha, a reduction of 5.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

With respect to black water shrimp farming, its performance in farming area and production in July continued to go upward trend compared to the same period last year. Particularly, black tiger shrimp farming area in July was estimated at 594.4 thousand ha, increasing by 2.4 per cent and its production reached 135.3 thousand tons, up 13.2 per cent. Meanwhile, white leg shrimp farming area reached 66.9 thousand ha, up 17.8 per cent, yielding 145.5 thousand tons.

Meanwhile, industrial shrimp farming tended to go upward trend thanks to the favorable weather. Shrimp farming in Me Kong Delta region saw a positive growth and the price of raw material shrimp remained stable. The provinces recorded high growth rate in shrimp farming area and production were Tra Vinh, Kien Giang and Soc Trang.

Capture fisheries

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), capture fisheries production in the first seven months of this year was estimated at 1,959.7 thousand tons, an increase of 4.4 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of this figure, marine fishing was estimated at 1,851.7 thousand tons, fulfilling 66.1 per cent of the year’s plan and increasing by 4.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The result was attributed to the fact that the weather in July was rather favorable, encouraging the fishermen to go off shore fishing with variety of fish being catched such as shrimp, tuna, anchovy, mackerel, etc.

Also, the favorable weather has facilitated fishermen in fishing tuna in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa. Tuna fishing production in the first seven months of this year was estimated at 14,282 tons, an increase of 12.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of this figure, tuna fishing yield in Binh Dinh province was estimated at 7,880 tons, followed by Phu Yen province and Khanh Hoa province at 3,215 tons and 3,187 tons, respectively.

In July, the price of ocean tuna with size of 30 kg/head varied from VND 60 – 80 thousand/kg and that of tuna with size over 30 kg/head was at VND 92 – 98 thousand/kg. Meanwhile, the price of anchovy ranged from VND 15- 19 thousand/kg and that of sardine varied from VND 20 - 30 thousand/kg.