In the past 10 years (2002-2012), total fish production reported a 2.2-fold increase in volume with an annual growth averaging nine per cent; showing 7.2-fold rise in value with an annual growth of 24.62 per cent, reports VASEP.
In the period, total seafood export turnover posted 3-fold rise with annual growth of 13.4 per cent.
The increase was mainly thanks to increase of fishing vessels, productivity, farming areas, volume of exported seafood. However, the industry hasn’t given priority to raise the value of seafood products. Thus, seafood export price in the period reported a modest surge.
Some shortcomings of the industry were uncontrolled increase in the number of inshore vessels, hiking input costs, backward post-harvest preservation techniques, inadequacies in fishing ground forecast.
Investments in upgrading quality of products to meet importers’ demand were limited. The usage of banned chemicals, fish seed wasn’t monitored closely. The linkage between fish farmers and processors wasn’t effective.
MARD has approved solutions for shortcomings of the sector with an aim to enhance the value of seafood products, strive for 2.5-fold increase in average income of labour working fishery sector in 10 years (2010-2020), protect fish stocks and minimize bad effects from environmental pollution and diseases.
By 2020, the seafood sector sets the target of reaching annually average growth in fish value of six per cent. The sector eyes the growth of three per cent and eight per cent in the value of caught fish and cultivated fish, respectively. The sector strives for the annual average growth of six per cent in the export turnover.
