The increasing demand for Vietnamese puffer fish (ca noc) in the Republic of Korea (RoK), Japan, Taiwan and mainland China is opening up a great potential for Vietnam’s seafood industry, said the Seafood Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Director of the Mai Sao Seafood Company in Kien Giang province, Cao Huong Thien, said that his company has reached a deal with the Korea Poseidon Seafood Company to export more than 56 tonnes of puffer fish.

Fisheries experts said the shipment is expected to open up a new prospect for the country’s seafood export.

Vietnam has around 40 species of puffer fish with estimated stocks of 37,287 tonnes and the annual puffer fish output from the Mekong delta province of Kien Giang alone is between 6,000-10,000 tonnes.

Khanh Hoa and Kien Giang are the two pilot provinces that are allowed to catch, process and export puffer fish to the RoK in cooperation with the Korea Poseidon Seafood Company./.