Aquaculture output amounted to 186,000MT in July, and to 1,431,000MT in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 3.8 per cent over the same period last year.
In July alone, seafood export reached US$430 million in value, pushing seafood export value of the first seven months of 2010 to US$2.45 billion, a 11.63 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2009.
Marine fish landing is reported high in some provinces, such as Quang Ninh (34,441MT), Hai Phong (24,740MT), Thanh Hoa (44,161MT), Nghe An (39,848MT), Quang Ngai (63,240MT), Da Nang (25,400MT), Binh Dinh (78,200MT, including 3,400MT of ocean tuna), Phu Yen (31,518MT, including 4,850MT of ocean tuna, up 14.9 per cent), Ninh Thuan (33,658MT), Binh Thuan (91,200MT), Ba Ria-Vung Tau (157,080MT), and Ben Tre (62,000MT).
Freshwater aquaculture suffered from severe drought, but right after having rains farmers have promptly stocked seeds according to the local authorities’ instructions.
Farmed seafood output is considerable in provinces such as Vinh Long (85,650MT, including 76,850MT of Pangasius); Can Tho (91,440MT, including 77,298MT of Pangasius); Dong Thap (157,145MT); and Ben Tre (52,000MT of Pangasius).
Selling price of raw Pangasius amounted to VND16,200 per kilo (US$0.85), up 1.9 per cent over the previous month, and eight per cent higher than that in the same period of 2009, while production cost ranged between VND15,500 (US$0.811) and VND16,000 (US$0.84) per kilo, resulting in little to no profits for farmers.
Production Increases But Prices Fall
VIET NAM - Around 218,000MT of catch landing in July has brought the total wild catch output in the first seven months of 2010 to 1,461,000MT, up 8.7 per cent year-on-year, says the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
