Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers administration chief Nguyen Minh Tam quoted statistics as showing tuna exports to the US market have reached its highest level at 4,000 tons, worth $20 million, 500 percent higher than the same period last year in both quantity and value.
Last year, the US imported 19,000 tons of tuna worth $67 million from Vietnam .
Tam said exports to Japan , Taiwan and Canada markets have increased at least 100 percent in quantity and value.
Exporters are now focusing on emerging markets, including the Bahamas and Libya , which have considerable exports potential in comparison with traditional ones of Canada and Israel .
However, the association said export prices had not been up to expectation.
Fishermen in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa have yielded a bumper crop since the beginning of the year, Tam said. However, most fishermen have not paid attention to the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing rule set by the European Commission which requires certificates of origin on all seafood consignments.
This has caused difficulties in the seafood sector, Tam said.
"The export turnover to the EU in February, therefore, was at $58.8 million, a decrease of 8.7 percent over the same period last year."
On the bright side, total export turnover to the EU in the first two months of this year rose 4.5 percent due to high export volumes in January.
In the first two months of the year, the EU imported 44,400 tons of seafood products from Vietnam worth $128.3 million.
The association forecast tuna productivity would soon reduce, driving prices higher.
Source: VNA
