Vietnam’s tra catfish experienced a crisis in 2009 with fluctuations in prices and a wavering consumer market.

 Price Fluctuate, Growers Fall into Hardship

The year began with a recovery in the prices of tra catfish after they had remained slack for a long period of time. The prices in the country’s biggest fish pond – the Mekong Delta region, rose thanks to an increasing demand from processors and a drop in supplies as many farmers had stopped rearing the fish due to a shortage of capital and heavy losses in 2008.

Prices jumped from 13,800 VND per kg to 17,000 VND per kg, their highest since the glut in 2008 and producers saw profits of between 1,000-2,000 VND per kg.

Not having fully recovered, Mekong Delta’s fish farmers then began to see prices drop sharply in July to 13,500-14,000 VND per kg.

The main reason was a reduction in both the amount and the value of export contracts compared with the same period last year. The lack of new contracts is another reason that businesses were put off from buying more.

To limit future losses, farmers and processors need to cooperate closer.

Tra Exports – Great Potential

Over the past decade, Vietnam ’s native fish has grown to become one of the country’s main marine export staples.

At present, Vietnam’s tra output has increased 50 times compared with ten years ago, reaching an average of over 1 million tonnes per year. The turnover from the export of tra fish is now 65 times more than it used to be and currently represents 2 percent of the country’s GDP.

Vietnam ’s tra fish are exported to 130 countries and territories worldwide, making the country the world’s biggest exporter, with a market share of up to 99.9 percent.

According to the VASEP, no other seafood in the world has made such a rapid expansion and grasped such a firm foothold on the market as Vietnamese tra fish.

The fish is also on the short list of Vietnam’s staple commodities that can compete in the global marketplace.

In 2008, tra fish recorded 1.45 billion USD in turnover, an increase of 48.4 percent year on year and making up 32.2 percent of the country’s total marine export turnover of 4.5 billion USD.

This year the turnover of tra and basa fish exports is estimated to reach 1.3 billion USD.

The fish is not just a leading hard-currency earner, as tra fish farms have generated millions jobs and contributed to the economic restructuring of the Mekong Delta region.

Efforts to Remove Awkward Policies

Tra and basa fish have made an important contribution to the country’s economic development, however, policies for investment, breeding, production, consumption and exports show urgent problems that need to be addressed.

Recently, the Prime Minister approved a plan to raise production levels and consumer demand for the fish in the Mekong Delta provinces by 2020, focusing on expanding the main tra growing areas along the Mekong tributaries of the Tien and Hau rivers to a maximum of 13,000 ha.

The plan has targeted reaching an output of 2 million tonnes of tra fish exporting 900,000 tonnes and turning over 3 billion USD while providing jobs for 250,000 direct workers.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is assigned to work closer with the Mekong Delta provinces to enforce food safety and hygiene standards and collaborate with the VASEP to control the quality of exports and prices./.