The People’s Committee of the central province of Binh Dinh held a seminar on September 15 to assess the province’s tuna fishing methods and tuna exports to Japan.

Speaking at the seminar, Chairman of the People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Loc requested the joint efforts of local bodies and fishermen to increase the use of advanced technology and improve the efficiency of tuna fishing. He urged authorities to submit a plan of action in September to address the sector’s shortcomings.

The province pledged to provide credit assistance for local fishermen to equip vessels with better bait and tools, safety kits, and refrigerated storage. Training courses will be conducted in Vietnam and in Japan to educate them on standard fishing procedures and tuna identification techniques.

The advanced technology will also be applied to 15-20 vessels, mainly in Hoai Nhon and Quy Nhon district.
Binh Dinh province has the big tuna fishing fleet in the country, and is also the first to apply modern technology in tuna fishing.

According to a report presented at the seminar, very few tuna fish caught by local residents m eet the quality standards for the Japanese market. In fact, data shows that only ten out of 57 caught tuna fish were exported to Japan, with only four classified as first class.

This failure to export high quality tuna is attributed to a number of reasons, including inappropriate fishing and hauling techniques, delayed processing, lack of refrigerated storage and long transportation times.-VNA