High catch but poor quality
According to provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, tuna fisheries appeared in Binh Dinh province a long time ago with main fishing gears of longline and purse seine. Its main targeted species are yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack tuna. Since 2011, local fishermen used lights to attract squid as the bait to catch tuna, leading to a sharp rise in tuna output.
Recently, tuna handlines using lights become popular with local fishermen because it brings high productivity, shorter fishing trip and lower fishing costs. Through May 2014, local fishermen caught 65,900 MT of marine products in all varieties, up 6.3 percent year on year, including 4,000 MT of ocean tuna, up 4.9 percent year on year.
Despite high tuna output, its price and quality is low, failing to meet demand for exporting, especially to Japan. Vietnam tuna has poor quality because of outdated fishing and handling method and the inadequate preservation. Tuna meat quality is low because when being hauled and pulled up to the deck, tuna struggle strongly which raises acidlactic content in tuna meat. High temperature for fish preserving also reduce tuna meat quality. Besides, with high output, the process of handling the tuna catch is slow and it fails to maintain the freshness of tuna meat.
Enhancing tuna quality
At the early June 2014, local experts together with experts from the Kato Hitoshi company guided fishermen in Tam Quan Bac commune to install and operate Japan sets of tuna fishing gears and modern technologies.
With these sets of tuna fishing gears and application of tuna preservation and fishing process under Japanese technologies, the catching productivity will be raised, fishing journey will be shortened, particularly the output and quality of tuna will be enhanced.
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(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After a slowdown in 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Germany showed more positive signs in the first quarter of 2026. However, the recovery remains uncertain as consumer demand in Germany is still cautious, while market competition is increasingly driven by pricing and supply stability.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After a sharp decline in 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Israel are showing positive signs of recovery in the early months of 2026. According to Vietnam Customs data, export turnover to this market grew steadily month by month in Q1/2026, reaching nearly USD 10 million, up 33% compared to the same period in 2025. However, compared to Q1/2024, this level remains significantly lower, indicating that the recovery is still in its early stage following last year’s strong adjustment.
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