Can Tho (VNA) – The export turnover of tra fish is expected to reach2 – 2.2 billion USD in 2018, making up 31.5 percent of the fishery industry’stotal export value.

To that end, the industry will need to breed some 2.2billion tra fishes, to be able to have an output of more than 1.3 milliontonnes of tra fish products, said Nguyen Ngoc Oai, acting General Director ofthe Directorate of Fisheries, at a recent conference in the Mekong Delta cityof Can Tho.

Oai stressed the need for the sector to improve the qualityof tra fish breeding, create a production and processing chain to encouragefarmers to team up with catfish processing companies to ensure a balancebetween supply and demand.

However, tra fish processors stated that they are facing alack of raw materials, which pushes prices of raw catfish to peak at 75,000 VND(3.3 USD) per kg, up 20,000 VND compared to late last year.

Deputy Director of Truong Giang Seafood Joint Stock Co. OngHang Van attributed the severe shortage to the significant loss of catfishbefore the lunar New Year (Tet) holiday due to unfavourable weather conditions.

Van said tra fish farms are lacking high-quality catfishbreeds, which negatively affects the quantity of fish during the growingprocess.

He added that his company, together with other processors,is willing to contribute capital to the Aquaculture Research Institute No 2 toproduce tra fish breeds that will guarantee strong supplies.

Sharing Van’s view that the quality of breeds remains low,Duong Quoc Nghia, President of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, suggested theState carry out policies to support businesses.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu VanTam stressed that it is time for the tra fish sector to tackle the breed issue,with the focus on intensifying inspections over breed producers and managementof breed quality.

Within March, the ministry will pass a three-tier tra fishbreed project, in which it will work with southern An Giang and Dong Thapprovinces to build a concentrated breed region in the two provinces, he said.

According to a report of the Directorate of Fisheries, thetra fish output hit 1.2 million tonnes in 2017, a year-on-year rise of 5.1percent. In the year, export turnover of this kind of fish reached 1.78 billionUSD, up 4.3 percent against that of the previous year, accounting for 21percent of the fishery industry’s total export value.

As of late 2017, the total area of tra fish farming was5,230ha, up 3.5 percent year-on-year, mainly in the Mekong Delta region.-VNA