The Vietnam Tuna Association (Vinatuna) was set up with 36 members in Nha Trang beach city, the central province of Khanh Hoa on Nov. 27.
The association aims to connect and support members to develop and improve their fishing activities as well as protect their legitimate rights relating to the protection, fishing, trading and processing of tuna in Vietnam .
According to the association, the sea off central and southeastern regions has a combined reserve of 1.15 million tonnes of fish with 400,000 tonnes for sustainable fishing, of which tuna accounts for 65 percent.
Currently, Vietnam has 10,000 boats with capacity of over 90 CV engaging tuna fishing on small scale using, simple tools and processing, which affect output and product consumption.
Between 2006-2010, Vietnam earned 720 million USD from exporting 208,000 tonnes of tuna.
This year, Vietnam exported 58,000 tonnes of tuna by Sept. 15, garnering 208 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 53 percent in volume and 73 percent in value.
The association targets to net 80,000 tonnes of tuna in 2011./.
