The event to establish the Vietnam Sustainable Shrimp Alliance in Ca Mau province on June 17 (Photo: VNA) Ca Mau (VNA) – An alliance was set up on June 17with a view to promoting sustainable shrimp production, an important sector inVietnam’s agriculture.
An event to match businesses in the sector andsign a memorandum of understanding on participating in the Vietnam SustainableShrimp Alliance (VSSA) was held in Ca Mau, a province in the Mekong Delta – theaquaculture hub of Vietnam.
Vice Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee Le Van Su said the VSSA foundation is an inevitable move amidst thefact that Vietnam’s shrimp sector is facing an array of challenges, includingseeking markets and meeting consumers’ growing demand for clean andenvironmentally friendly shrimp products.
Josh Madeira, Senior Manager of OceanConservation Policy from the US’s Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood WatchProgramme, noted consumers in North America, Europe and Asia consider thetaste, freshness, health benefits and food safety as leading criteria whenchoosing aquatic products.
The US, the EU and Japan always have compulsoryfood safety requirements. Additionally, more than 90 percent of the retailersin North America and 75 percent of those in the EU also request that aquaticproducts must ensure environmental sustainability, he noted.
At the event, major shrimp businesses, farmingcooperatives, farming households and agritech firms signed a memorandum ofunderstanding to take part in the VSSA. This will not only help ensure standardfarming facilities, food supply and infrastructure but also create aself-contained production chain for the sustainable development of Vietnam’sshrimp sector.
In 2018, the industry experienced a year-on-yeardecline of 7.8 percent in export value to 3.6 billion USD.
It aims to record an export revenue of 4.1 – 4.2 billion USD in 2019.-VNA
VNA
