The organization gives Eurostat figures for imports of pangasius fillets by Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Belgium and Italy for the period January to March this year alongside the figures for the same period in 2011 and 2010.
They make depressing reading for fisheries authorities in Vietnam, the world’s largest pangasius producer. With the exception of Belgium where imports remained steady at 2,200 metric tons (MT), and Italy where imports actually increased from 2,700 MT to 3,100 MT, imports by all the other countries declined when comparing the figures for 2012 with those for 2011.
Some falls were dramatic, for example imports by Spain, the biggest importer listed, nearly halved from 11,400 MT to 6,200 MT and imports by Poland again virtually halved from 6,000 MT to 3,100 MT.
With the exception of Germany where imports have been declining for the past two years, there were increases in imports for all other countries between 2010 and 2011.
So what has caused the crash? In Germany the blame for declining sales could be laid squarely at the door of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) which first put pangasius on its red list of species to avoid and then carried out a hatchet job on the species with the television program lambasting the methods for farming and processing it.
It might be thought that this adverse publicity would have been forgotten by now, but bad news has a habit of sticking with fish. It has taken many years for consumers to stop believing that farmed salmon is not being pumped full of antibiotics. Indeed, farmed salmon today is still not highly regarded in some quarters.
Have European consumers been put off by all the bad publicity that still surrounds pangasius? Certainly opinions in the seafood industry are against the species. That “rubbish fish” was how one senior figure in Norway described it at this year’s ESE, while a fisheries consultant said that the farming methods used in Vietnam were disgraceful — actually a swear word was used to describe them.
Does pangasius deserve this reputation? The species has been subjected to far more bacteriological, chemical and physical testing that any other. According to one insider, 29 parameters are checked on fillets from every consignment exported. No other fish is checked as much.
Problems have been found with the presence of banned substances, but not one person has been reported as being harmed in any way by eating pangasius. And while Europe is still mired in recession, sales of what must be the cheapest whitefish available should be booming.
In its Globefish Highlights, FAO says that Vietnamese pangasius is being hit by a supply shortage, disease problems, high production costs and the slowing down of traditional markets. Considering these problems the Vietnamese government, it adds, is unlikely to achieve its target export value of USD 2 billion for pangasius in 2012.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The year 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States (1995–2025). In parallel with the nation's progress in international economic integration, bilateral seafood trade has followed a remarkably impressive growth trajectory, expanding from an initial scale of just tens of millions of US dollars to nearly $2 billion annually. This growth has positioned the United States as Vietnam’s largest seafood export market for many consecutive years.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On December 12, 2025, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP) issued document 231/CV-VASEP regarding strengthening measures to combat IUU fishing and working with the Government to lift the EC's IUU yellow card warning.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Tilapia is easy to farm and provides high economic and nutritional value, making it a sought-after export commodity in many countries.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports in the first 10 months of 2025 recorded significant progress, reaching more than USD 9.5 billion, up 15% year-on-year. This result reflects the sector’s persistent efforts amid a highly volatile market, especially policy shocks from the US Although signs of slowdown emerged in the third quarter due to countervailing taxes, key product groups still maintained strong momentum and created a foundation for full-year exports to reach USD 11 billion.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s agreement with the United States on a framework for reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade—reached during the 2025 ASEAN Summit in Malaysia—has generated strong optimism for Vietnamese exports, including tuna. Numerous positive points in the joint statement have raised high expectations for Vietnamese export goods, but turning these expectations into tangible benefits remains a long and challenging journey.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) At the conference on “Linking the Production and Consumption Chain of Ca Mau Crab 2025,” Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee Lê Văn Sử posed a central question: how to shift the province’s crab exports toward official trade channels, instead of relying heavily on small-scale border trade with China as currently practiced.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The whitefish market in Japan is showing a clear divergence among supplying countries, in which Vietnam continues to affirm its role as a stable and high-potential exporter. Vietnam currently ranks third after the US and Russia in whitefish export value to Japan. Thanks to tariff incentives and the ability to meet Japan’s strict standards, Vietnamese pangasius continues to record a stable and positive growth trend.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The People's Committee of Ca Mau Province has just issued a plan to expand the super-intensive, low-water-exchange, biosecure white-leg shrimp farming model (RAS-IMTA) for whiteleg shrimp farming to a scale of 1,500 hectares, aiming to develop high-tech, sustainable and environmentally friendly shrimp farming.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Sa Giang Import-Export Joint Stock Company (HNX: SGC) plans to issue over 7.1 million shares to raise nearly 465 Billion VND for Hoan Ngoc M&A Deal.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to Rabobank, global tilapia production is forecast to exceed 7 million tons in 2025, driven by a strong recovery in major producing countries including China, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Among them, Vietnam is emerging as a potential tilapia supplier in the global supply chain, capitalizing on market fluctuations to expand production and exports.
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