An Giang (VNA) – The tra fish sectorestimated to rake in 1.67 billion USD from exports this year, an year-on-yearincrease of 6.6 percent.

The figure was announced at a recent conference inthe Mekong Delta province of An Giang to review tra fish production andconsumption and seek measures for the sector’s sustainable development.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen XuanCuong called on tra fish producers to improve their business operation to raisetheir products’ quality, reduce price to promote export while focusing onexploring the 92-million-people domestic market.

According to the Ministry, as of November 2016, the tra fish farming areas reached 4,522 hectares,producing 1,047 million tonnes of tra fish.

The figures are estimated at 5,000 ha for ayearly harvest of 1.2 million tonnes by the end of this year, up nine percentover 2015.

Vietnam has so far this year shipped tra fish productsto 140 markets in the world, up four markets over 2015, earning over 1.46 billionUSD. The main markets are the US, the EU, China, ASEAN, Mexico, Brazil,Colombia and Arab Saudi.

In 2016, the Mekong Delta has 108 tra fish frynursing facilities and 1,856 households breeding 16.5 billion fries on 1,500hectares, up one percent over the 2015, mostly in Dong Thap, An Giang, Can Thoand Vinh Long provinces.

According to Nhu Van Can, Director of the Ministry’sAquaculture Department, the Mekong Delta has 4,785 tra fish farms, over half ofwhich belong to enterprises. The rest are run by households and cooperatives.

Domestic enterprises have started payingattention to developing production chains connecting stakeholders in the sector,including fry producers, food suppliers and processors, Can said, adding thathowever these chains are incomplete.

Duong Ngoc Minh, Director General of Hung VuongGroup said the Mekong Delta needs over 30 billion young tra fish each year,however the quality of the young fish is poor, which affects the processing of trafish for export.

He suggested the Ministry invest in key young trafish breeding localities, apply advanced technology in the process and developconnections between enterprises and farmers.

Minister Cuong said tra fish processors andexporters need to work with farmers to develop brand names for Vietnamese trafish to enhance their competitiveness.

Farmers need to follow the strict requirements inthe farming area in a sustainable manner, in close link with the productionchain or cooperatives and in line with the standards such as VietGap,GlobalGap.

The Ministry will instruct relevant bodies toprovide supports for stakeholders and improve the role of the AquacultureAssociation and the Tra Fish Association in expanding export markets.

In 2017, the sector is expected to earn over 1.7billion USD from exports, up 10 percent from this year.-VNA