Seafood sales are sluggish, freshwater fish are on the rise

After the Ministry of Health's recommendation of 154 types of seafood that should not be eaten in 4 central provinces, the purchasing power of this item in Ho Chi Minh City markets decreased by nearly half.

Ms. Dao (living in Binh Thanh District) said that because she has small children at home, she always creates a menu that ensures adequate nutrition every week, which often includes sea fish. However, after being advised not to eat some seafood from the Central region, she switched to eating shrimp and fish living in fresh and brackish water instead of all seafood.

“I don’t know exactly whether the seafood in the market is from the Central region or not, so it’s safest to not eat it for now,” said Ms. Dao. Sharing this sentiment, many housewives said they have limited their use of sea fish since the news of the environmental incident in the Central region’s seas broke out.

Seafood sales in Ho Chi Minh City markets are increasingly sluggish. Photo: Phuong Dong.

Surveys at some large markets in Ho Chi Minh City show that the sea fish business area has very few customers, and both the quantity and variety of products are lacking. Although traders advertise that the products are imported from the West and Binh Thuan, ensuring fresh quality, most housewives are not interested. Meanwhile, brackish and freshwater seafood such as eel, frog, field crab, red tilapia, tilapia, etc. are selling very well and the price has been pushed up by a few thousand VND per kilogram.

Although she has not yet received information about the new recommendations from the Ministry of Health, Ms. Minh, the owner of a freshwater fish stall at An Nhon Market (Go Vap), said that in recent days, the purchasing power of this item has increased sharply. Typically, red tilapia is consumed approximately 100 kg per day at a price of about 60,000 VND per kg for fresh fish and 45,000 - 50,000 VND per kg for suffocated fish.

On the other hand, a seafood trader at Ba Chieu market shared that he has been selling this item for nearly 10 years, but the frequent slowdown has only happened in the past few months. Previously, selling about 60-70 kg of silver pomfret, mackerel, tuna, etc. per day was normal, but now it has dropped by more than half.

“Before, I always imported sea fish from traders in the West because the transportation distance was short, the price was reasonable, and I didn’t have to worry about contamination like seafood from the Central region. However, since the Formosa incident, the origin of seafood has been equated, making trading very difficult,” she said.

At supermarkets, purchasing power is also not very positive. Photo: Phuong Dong.

At some supermarkets in the Big C and Co.opmart systems, fresh and frozen seafood are clearly listed as having their origins from key fishing grounds in the south such as Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Ba Ria - Vung Tau... Some types of seafood such as mullet (67,000 VND per kg), silver pomfret (70,000 VND per kg) although their prices are equivalent to many types of freshwater fish, are not chosen by many consumers.

“Information about the origin, processing facility and price are clearly shown on the packaging, but many consumers are still not sure, sometimes they have to ask the staff at the counter,” said the manager of the fresh food department at Co.opmart Ly Thuong Kiet supermarket (District 10). According to this employee, in the past few days, the purchasing power of freshwater fish and pre-processed seafood has been increasing.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dinh, owner of Thanh Hung seafood warehouse (Tan Binh district), said that the origin-based comparison has significantly affected the business activities of this enterprise. While people are boycotting seafood, he has proactively sought a new direction, bringing his products to the central coastal provinces. Currently, this warehouse distributes more than half a ton of various types of seafood to Thanh Hoa and Nghe An every day.

“Consumers can rest assured when eating seafood because most of the products consumed in the Ho Chi Minh City market are not imported from the Central provinces due to very high preservation and transportation costs and the quality is not special,” Mr. Dinh added.

Regarding businesses in the four central provinces affected by the environmental incident, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, owner of Ngoc Phuong fishing enterprise (Dong Hoi, Quang Binh) said that the new recommendations make fishing for fishermen here even more difficult.

“Everything has changed now. My seafood shop for tourists had to close due to a 95% drop in visitors. The boat had to increase its capacity to operate far from shore to avoid contaminated seafood, but when it was sold, people still did not dare to buy. Traders forced down the price. Typically, mackerel weighing 18-19 fish per kilo was only sold for 15,000 VND, while just a few months ago it was up to more than 30,000 VND,” said Mr. Ngoc.

According to VNE