Vietnam’s export sales of basa and tra catfish in the first eight months of this year doubled to some US$600 million, but uncertainties over markets and pollution cast shadow on the robust growth, according to participants at a recent seminar on catfish development.
The seminar was held in Mekong Delta Can Tho City to discuss a master plan on catfish development in the Mekong Delta prepared by the Southern Fishery Planning Sub-Institute.
This master plan envisions strong growth of the catfish sector to 2010 and beyond to 2020, seeking to fast-track the expansion of the farming area to yield nearly two million tons of catfish by 2020, and an annual export value of $1-1.5 billion.
Deputy Minister of Fisheries Nguyen Thi Hong Minh said that the export earning of catfish products may amount to over $1 billion this year, or a three-fold increase over last year’s value.
Last year, Vietnam shipped abroad 118.640 tons of catfish products, earning $303.12 million.
Participants in the seminar strongly disapproved the plan, urging the Fisheries Ministry to take into consideration emerging threats to on markets and pollution.
Nguyen Thanh Phuong, dead of the Fisheries Faculty of Can Tho University, said sustainable development should be the key.
“We have been to focused on expanding the farming area and boosting production while the more important criteria should be the efficiency and sustainable development,” he said.
He pointed to water pollution as the key threat to sustainable development.
With 16,600 hectares for catfish farming by 2020 as presented in the master plan, the required feed amount will be equivalent to the volume needed for 960,000 hectares of shrimp farming, he said.
In shrimp farming areas along the coast, negative impacts on the environment is minimized as the unconsumed feed is discharged into the sea. Meanwhile, redundant feed in fishponds is released into the river system, which will result in severe pollution, he said.
Ngo Phuoc Hau, general director of Vietnam’s biggest catfish processor Agifish, expressed concerns over market uncertainties, saying the master plan should take into account projections on market demands.
“There are times when demands surge, but there are also times when demands take a nosedive,” he said.
Several other participants agreed to Hau’s reasoning, saying catfish demands have been going up sharply in the past time due to the consumer’s concerns over bird flu and foot-and-mouth diseases. Catfish has been an alternate food in a time of such turbulences, so demands have shot up, they said.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Hong Minh agreed to the points, saying changes will be made to the master plan before it is carried out.
The Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s largest catfish farming area, is now home to 36 catfish processing factories with a total designed capacity of 273,000 tons per annum.
Vietnam Agriculture
Vietnamese
