Crossing Tra Fish off Red List: Experience for WWF

At a press conference on December 15, WWF agreed to remove the Vietnamese tra fish from the consumer red list and recommended consumers to use this product. “WWF will recommend consumers to continue using Vietnamese tra fish,” Mr Mark Powell, Head of the WWF International Global Seafood Programme, said at a press briefing after a meeting with the Vietnamese General Department of Fisheries.

 

Earlier, the WWF put the Vietnamese tra fish on the Red List in its consumer manuals in some European nations, meaning consumers should not use this product. This groundless conclusion of the WWF forced Vietnamese competent organs to invite Mr Mark Powell to Hanoi to work and provide more information about the tra fish in Vietnam. Mr Pham Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of General Department of Fisheries, said that it was vital to evaluate on a scientific and transparent basis.

 

Although Vietnam invited WWF representatives to pay field trips to tra fish farms in Can Tho City, a major producer of tra fish in the country, they could not arrange the schedule for some reason. They said they will come to Vietnam soon to directly investigate tra fish farms in Vietnam.

 

The information that the WWF put the Vietnamese tra fish on the Red List upset Vietnamese fish farmers and producers. Farmers were afraid of losing the breadwinner and companies are frightened of going bankrupt. With natural endowments and large water surfaces, fish farming in Vietnam is very favourable.

As regards production processes and food safety level, since 2003, Vietnam has applied the SQF 1000CM management system standards introduced by the American Food Marketing Institute (FMI). Notably, in early 2010, many fish farming and processing bases are awarded GlobalGAP certificate - the highest standard for globally responsible and sustainable aquaculture. The Government of Vietnam has also supported the application of GlobalGAP to commercial fish farms in the 2011 - 2015 period.

 

Meanwhile, the WWF admitted that a series of tra fishing farms have been, and will be, certified SQF and GlobalGAP standards widely recognised in the United States and Europe without having to wait until the tra fish is awarded the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certificate by the WWF to use as a food. Therefore, in the future, before making any decisions, the WWF should base on fact-findings to avoid mistaken conclusions.

 

In fact, although the Vietnamese tra fish industry has attained important achievements, it is facing many challenges. In the U.S. market, to protect tra fish growers, the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) has launched government relations (GR) and public relations (PR) campaigns to draw an accurate picture of the Vietnamese tra fish industry in general and Vietnam in general. They are using negative images to frighten consumers. They say the Mekong River and tributaries are polluted, fish farmers and processors do not comply with food safety standards, and tra fish fillets have no taste and contain many toxins. Of course, these allegations are untrue and disapproved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Fisheries Institute. Actually, with such campaigns, the consumer confidence in Vietnam diminished, giving rise to a drop in tra fish export value.

 

Besides, other countries are also trying to grow tra fish. When their output increases, Vietnam will confront new challenges arising from supply sources.