Tuna export, little joy, much worry

In the context of seafood exports facing many difficulties in the first months of this year, tuna is still a bright spot with continuous high growth in export value. However, the tuna industry still has great potential concerns.

According to VASEP, in the first two months of this year, the country's official seafood export value reached 778.5 million USD, down 0.6% compared to the same period last year. In that context, tuna still achieved an impressive growth rate of 33%, reaching an export value of 98.5 million USD in the past two months.

According to VASEP, the reason why tuna exports are growing so strongly is primarily because the demand for this product in the world market is exceeding the supply. Over the past year as well as in the first months of this year, tuna fishing has been restricted in many sea areas around the world.

Prepare tuna

For example, earlier this year, the US National Marine Fisheries Service proposed setting a quota for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which would close bluefin tuna fishing after 10,000 tons of tuna have been caught in 2013. Many other important fishing grounds around the world are also temporarily closed or have seen a sharp decline in tuna production.



Meanwhile, demand for tuna is increasing. The EU, one of the most important tuna markets in the world, decided late last year to increase the import quota for cooked tuna loins from 15,000 tons to 22,000 tons, and exempt them from tax from 2013 to 2016. Vietnam will be one of the countries that benefit from this decision.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, Chairwoman of the VASEP Seafood Committee, said that the main reason for the sharp increase in tuna exports is the good tuna fishing season this year. The attention and investment of the State and people in tuna fishing equipment has significantly increased the output of this fish.

Mr. Vu Dinh Dap, Chairman of the Vietnam Tuna Association, forecasts that this year's tuna output could reach 17,000-18,000 tons, the highest ever. The continued increase in tuna output will bring more hope to Vietnam's seafood exports, because among current seafood products, tuna is the most valuable.

However, according to Mr. Dap, while the output is good, the quality of Vietnamese tuna is declining. Previously, ocean tuna was caught by longline (fishing at a depth of 70-100 m), although the productivity was not high, the fish had very good quality. Currently, fishermen have switched to catching ocean tuna using high-pressure lamps, that is, shining lights into the water at a depth of about 30-50 m, so that ocean tuna gather there and then use hand lines to catch them.

This type of tuna fishing increases the yield compared to longline fishing, but the fish caught, although looking very fresh, have a significant decrease in quality after only a few hours. Therefore, the price of tuna has dropped sharply by 20-30% compared to before. The sharp drop in tuna prices has caused many fishermen who had switched from exploiting other types of marine fish to tuna fishing, only breaking even or even losing a little, without achieving the desired profit level.

Therefore, if the technical problems of fishing, processing, and preservation cannot be solved to help tuna caught with high-pressure lamps still have good quality, thereby increasing the selling price, it is likely that these fishermen will return to their old profession, more or less affecting tuna production in the coming months.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Sac also said that the quality of tuna has decreased due to improper fishing and preservation. Tuna caught by lantern fishing will spoil faster than tuna caught by longline fishing. Poor preservation also causes histamine (which can cause poisoning to consumers) in tuna, so it is not accepted by the market. In addition, the lack of synchronization between fishing and processing plants also significantly affects the economic efficiency of tuna.

According to (NNVN) - LC