Vietnam will face a lot of challenges in exporting pangasius fish to the U.S. as the Farm Bill comes into effect in 2010, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
According to a recent report conducted by Globefish under the FAO, the Bill which defines Vietnamese tra and basa as catfish instead of pangasius will put the fish under the strict management by the U.S.’s Department of Agriculture.
Globefish said the government of Vietnam’s plan to raise the fish output by 600,000 tons to 1.6 million tons will likely pull the prices down on higher supply.
Last year, Vietnam earned $1.342 billion from exporting 607,700 tons of pangasius fish, down 7% and 5%, respectively, from 2008.
The U.S. was the fourth biggest importer of Vietnamese tra and basa with 41,600 tons, up from 24,200 tons in 2008 and 21,200 tons in 2007.
Vietnam was the biggest pangasius fish exporter to the U.S., accounting for 65% of the country’s total import volume.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese newspapers reported that local farmers have left their fish ponds to avoid further debts caused by high production costs.
The farmers said the fish prices rose to VND17,000/kg from VND15,000/kg, but the sharp increases in petrol, power, animal feed prices, and interest rates pushed them into debt.
“Dropping the pangasius farming is the best solution to avoid further debts,” said a farmer in Chau Phu district of An Giang province.
According to local commercial banks, total outstanding loans for pangasius rearing and processing were VND28.891 trillion as of early this year, of which VND217 billion were bad debts.
Pangasius fish rearing area in the region decreased to around 2,000 hectares as of late Mar 2010, producing 88,000 tons.
The decreases in both area and output are affecting processing firms which are running factories at only 30% of full capacity due to material shortage. (vasep.com.vn, Countryside Today)
Vietnamese
