Hanoi (VNA) - The adverse impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic are being felt in Vietnam’s fisheries sector, with exportvalue falling 30 percent year-on-year in March.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters andProducers (VASEP) reported that fisheries export revenue reached just 549million USD in the month, with declines seen in the export of tra fish and tunafish (over 29 percent), squid (31 percent), and shrimp (about 15 percent).
The sharpest fall was seen in the EU (of 40 percent),followed by China (25 percent), the Republic of Korea (24 percent), and Japan (19percent).
Total export turnover had reached over 1.5billion USD as of the end of March, a fall of 14 percent, with the sharpestcontraction seen for tra fish, mainly due to shrinking exports to China in thefirst two months.
Some 35-50 percent of shrimp orders from the US and theEU have been suspended or cancelled, according to Le Van Quang, Chairman ofthe Minh Phu Seafood Corp.
A similar situation was seen by mid-March in ordersfrom the Middle East, Asia, and South America.
Quang said that despite such difficulties,domestic firms have still purchased shrimp from tens of thousands of farmers inthe Mekong Delta in an effort to shore up employment.
Apart from market obstacles, businesses must also shoulderthe burden of extra container storage charges as well as expenses for equipmentlike face masks, thermometers, and sanitier used to fight COVID-19.
VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said concerns overfalling shrimp and tra fish prices prompted farmers to conduct an earlyharvest.
If farmers cut production at this time, this will leadto a shortage of materials at the end of this year when the disease has been stampedout and consumption demand is increasing, he warned.
Local fisheries processors and exporters have proposedthe Government instruct the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour to consider exemptionsof trade union fees and social insurance collections this year.
They also called for reductions in corporate incometax and bank fees along with other credit incentives./.
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Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) 
