Vietnam’s First ASC Clam Farm Celebrates Certification
Lenger Seafood Vietnam is a clam producer based in the Nam Dinh province in the north of the country, and following certification by independent conformity assessment body Control Union it became the first of its kind to achieve ASC certification in Vietnam.
In fact, while there are already ASC certified clam farms elsewhere, Lenger is the first anywhere in the world to achieve certification for farming this particular species of clam – known as the hard clam (Meretrix Lyrata).
Last month an event was held by the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development of Vietnam in coordination with Nam Dinh Province’s People’s Committee. A representative of Control Union Vietnam was also in attendance to present the certificate.
Vietnam is the world’s third biggest producer of ASC certified seafood by volume, but this has so far all come from shrimp and pangasius farms. Clam farms are certified against the ASC Bivalve Standard, which also covers oysters, mussels, and others. While there are currently around 260 farms around the world certified against the ASC Bivalve Standard, the majority of these are oyster and mussel farms, with just two certified clam farms prior to Lenger’s certification, both of which were for different species of clam.
While bivalves can be ideal species to farm with minimal impacts, if they are farmed irresponsibly they can still have negative social and environmental effects, which the ASC Bivalve Standard aims to minimize. In fact, a recent blog looked at why we do need to certify these fascinating creatures.
Control Union is one of the third-party bodies that carry out independent audits of farms against the ASC standards. The ASC programme is a third-party certification programme, meaning all audits and decisions around certification are carried out independently. This is widely regarded as the most robust and consistent method of certification.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam's shrimp exports reached over 686 million USD, an increase of 14% over the same period in 2023.
Having identified its weakness in 2023, entering the first quarter of 2024, Vietnam's shrimp industry has undergone a clear change, reflected through increases in exports to major markets.
It is necessary to develop more detailed and consistent regulations on seafood production for export in line with the implementation of solutions towards sustainable and responsible fishing practices.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After increasing to the highest level in 2022, Canada's tuna imports in 2023 dropped to the lowest level in the past 10 years, reaching 35 thousand tons, down 24% over the year. Canada is currently one of the 15 largest tuna import markets in the world.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Chile, one of the countries participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has tended to increase tuna imports from Vietnam in the past 3 years. According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, this South American country imported nearly 3 million USD of tuna products from Vietnam in the first 2 months of 2024, an increase of 58% over the same period in 2023.
Economic and social development activities, overexploitation, pollution, diseases, and climate change have adversely affected the ecological environment, leading to a severe decline or the extinction of many precious indigenous aquatic species.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The prices of pangasius fingerlings and raw pangasius in ponds fell in March, following steady increases in the first two months of this year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In February 2024, the average export price of Vietnamese pangasius to markets increased by 4%, although the volume decreased by 40% compared to the previous month.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) There was a 6% decline in Vietnam's pangasius exports to Brazil in February 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with the total value reaching 6 million USD.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first two months of 2024, Poland—which ranks as Vietnam's fourth-largest EU supplier of tuna—became a noteworthy market. Vietnam's tuna exports value to Poland increased by 786% in comparison to the same period last year, totaling over $2 million USD and contributing about 2% of the country's overall tuna exports revenue.
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