The quota represents the 2011 tuna landings in Philippine waters and excludes imported frozen tuna from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Total fish landings in General Santos City for 2011 stood at 112,890.82 tonnes, most of them consisting of tuna or tuna-like species. The figure includes the 85.94 tonnes of frozen tuna imported and those shipped from Manila for the city’s six canning factories, according to the General Santos City Fish Port Complex. Benjamin Tabios, BFAR assistant director, said most of the 162 purse seine tuna catchers will have to be decommissioned to keep the industry going, Asian Correspondent reports.
“(The assessment) is fairly correct that there must be a reduction of fishing fleet but there should also be proportionate reduction in gross catch,” Tabios stated, referring to an earlier statement by former Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries President Marfenio Tan, who thinks diminishing the purse seine tuna fleet from General Santos from 162 to 50 will help sustain the industry in light declining catches and rising production costs over the last three years.
Similarly, Tabios said the tuna food chain must be managed for tuna stocks to bounce back. The three-month ban on sardine fishing early in 2012 helped tuna catches from municipal waters improve as well, he noted, which makes sense because tuna feed on sardines (tamban or white sardinella).
BFAR is now proposing a 30 per cent catch cut in nine of the country’s 12 traditional fishing grounds. However, there are still frontier areas for the country’s tuna fishing, he said, mentioning the immense Pacific Ocean side of the Philippines, which has remained largely unexploited.
BFAR wants the country to take three major steps to manage its diminishing tuna catches: a reduction of fishing vessels, slashing the number of fishing days and adopting a closure season especially in known tuna spawning grounds.
Vince Cinches, Greenpeace Southeast Asia ocean campaigner, said several tuna fishing companies have been thinking about shifting from purse seine fishing to the more sustainable pole and line fishing to avoid stressing stocks further given dwindling supplies. He highlighted the importance of changing to pole and line to protect wild tuna.
The firms’ primary concern is the cost of switching from one method to another, PNA reports. Ibrahim Athif Shakoor, International Pole and Line Foundation secretary general, pointed out that pole and line fishing is cheaper than purse seine: a pole and line vessel only cost as much as USD 330,000 compared to a figure from USD 25 million to USD 30 million for a purse seine fleet. A pole and line vessel could fit up to 60 tonnes of fish.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Japan continues to be one of Vietnam’s most important and stable shrimp markets. In recent years, shrimp exports to this market have fluctuated in line with Japan’s broader economic and consumption cycles, yet Japan remains a major, high-value destination with stringent standards.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Spain increased by 13% compared to 2024. This growth trend has continued into the first two months of 2026. According to Vietnam Customs statistics, export turnover to this market reached nearly USD 3 million in January–February 2026, up 101% year-on-year and significantly higher than the same period in 2024. This development indicates that Spain is once again becoming a notable destination for Vietnamese tuna amid strong demand for tuna raw materials and products in Europe.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The 2026 brackish water shrimp farming season in the Mekong Delta has started earlier than usual, mainly driven by positive market signals, as shrimp prices in 2025 remained high and supply was limited. Many enterprises and farms in Cần Thơ, Cà Mau, and Vĩnh Long have proactively stocked early to seize opportunities. By early 2026, stocking areas in many localities had reached a high proportion of planned targets, with intensive and high-tech farming models expanding rapidly.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the United States recorded remarkable growth in 2025, opening up major opportunities while also presenting considerable challenges. The U.S. remains the largest importer of Vietnamese tilapia fillets, with export turnover reaching USD 40 million—an increase of up to 499% compared to 2024. This impressive growth reflects strong demand in the U.S. market, as supply from competing countries such as China has been constrained by tariffs and rising production costs.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Pangasius remains a strategic export commodity in Vietnam’s seafood sector. Entering 2026, the industry faces a strong need to transition from volume-based growth to a value-driven development model, with a focus on quality, food safety, and sustainability.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Following damage caused by Storm No. 13 in late 2025, brackish water shrimp farming in Gia Lai is being rapidly restored. In key farming areas such as Tuy Phước and Tuy Phước Đông, farmers are focusing on rehabilitating ponds, repairing infrastructure, and treating the environment in preparation for the 2026 crop.
(seafood.vasep.com) Facing the decline in fishery resources, Vietnam is accelerating livelihood transitions for fishermen to reduce fishing pressure and move toward sustainable development. Marine fish stocks have dropped significantly from 4.82 million tons in 2000–2005 to 3.95 million tons in 2016–2020.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s shrimp industry is entering a period of strong transformation with the emergence of various high-tech farming models, helping improve productivity and competitiveness. Over the past 5–10 years, farming practices have shifted from traditional methods to intensive and super-intensive systems, featuring lined ponds, environmental sensors, automated feeding, and data management.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) With a focus on sustainable development, high-tech application, and climate change adaptation, An Giang Province aims to maintain its brackish water shrimp production in 2026 at a level equivalent to the previous year. Specifically, output is projected to reach over 155,510 tons, serving both domestic consumption and export processing, thereby sustaining the fisheries sector’s key role in the local economic structure.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the Mekong Delta, key pangasius farming provinces such as An Giang, Dong Thap, and Can Tho are accelerating the transition toward a circular economy model, contributing to higher product value and reduced environmental impact. Instead of focusing solely on farming and processing, the pangasius value chain is increasingly utilizing by-products and waste streams to generate added value.
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