Ocean tuna fishing in Binh Dinh province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Total fishing output in the first five months of the year increased 2.4 percent year-on-year to 1.3 million tonnes due to favourable weather conditions, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Of the total figure, seafood exploitation was estimated at 1.27 million tonnes, up 2.5 percent from the same time last year.
Coastal provinces specialized in ocean tuna fishing brought home 9,227 tonnes of tuna during January-May, a year-on-year drop of 8 percent. Of the figure, 4,750 tonnes were from Binh Dinh province, 2,287 tonnes from Phu Yen and 2,190 tonnes from Khanh Hoa.
The ministry urged fishermen to build modern fishing vessels and apply high technology in post-harvest process. Meanwhile, low-capacity boats which cause negative impacts on the marine eco-system should be abolished.
Also in the period, Vietnam recorded a year-on-year rise of 9.7 percent in aquatic export value to 3.12 billion USD. The figure for May alone was estimated at 671 million USD.
The US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea were the four biggest importers of Vietnamese aquatic products between January and April, making up 52.7 percent of total fishery exports in the period.
Meanwhile, markets with strong growth in aquatic imports from Vietnam were the Netherlands (60.2 percent), China (28.8 percent), the UK (27.4 percent) and Germany (27 percent).
The country imported about 165 million USD worth of fishery products, raising the five-month aquatic import value to 698 million USD, up 33.5 percent from a year earlier.-VNA
VNA
