Hanoi (VNA) –𓆉 Fishery catching in the first nine months of this year was more than 2.3 million tonnes, up 2.7 percent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Thanks to favourable weather at sea during the period, especially in southern central and Mekong Delta regions, seafood catching reached nearly 2.2 million tonnes, a rise of 2.8 percent compared to the same time last year. Reports from localities showed that tuna outputs of three southern central provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen in January-September period were nearly 7.3 million tonnes, drop 0.03 percent year on year. Meanwhile, aquatic farming output in September was 319,000 tonnes, a rise of 7.4 percent over the same period last year, raising total figure in nine months to 2.6 million tonnes, an increase of 1.8 percent year on year. So far this year, the low demand of export markets has posed difficulties to seafood shipment. At the same time, the price of tra fish as material also dropped, causing difficulties for farmers. Total tra fish raising area in the first nine months of 2016 in the Mekong Delta was 5,146 hectares, a decline of 2.3 percent year on year. But the production still rose 2.5 percent to reach nearly 861,000 tonnes as some localities enjoyed bumper crops. In Dong Thap, the tra fish output was nearly 286,000 tonnes, up 6.8 percent while that of Can Tho was over 118,000 tonnes, a rise of 27.2 percent. As of September 20, black prawn raising area across the country was estimated at 582,700 hectares, an increase of 0.6 percent over the same time last year, with an output of 174,400 tonnes, a fall of 2.5 percent.-VNA