August 10, 2020 — The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has made public its first monitoring and evaluation report, which showcases the impact of certified responsible aquaculture.
The report, released 5 August, highlighted improvements in the environmental performance of salmon farms in Norway, Canada, and Chile, and shrimp farms in Vietnam.
July 15, 2020 — Several months into the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. shrimp market remains hard to nail down, as ever-shifting market conditions continue to make it difficult to predict where prices and demand will end up.
As early as April, experts were predicting that the shrimp supply chain would see impacts into the summer months as COVID-19 related lockdowns and disruptions hit both supplies and the amount of shrimp demanded in the U.S.
June 16, 2020 — Vietnam’s shrimp sector has been reaping the benefits of the country’s successful containment of the COVID-19 outbreak, with growth seen in export and farming activities.
Official data from Vietnam government shows that the country has experienced more than 50 consecutive days without any new cases of the coronavirus in the community, thanks to its early and resolute actions by its government. As of 5 June, Vietnam had more than 300 confirmed cases, with zero deaths. Almost all restrictions during the social distancing order imposed in the first half of April have been lifted, and major economic and social activities have been brought back to a “new normal” since late April.
May 28, 2020 — The coronavirus has delivered a large blow to Vietnam’s pangasius sector, which was already hurting before the pandemic.
Vietnam has not recorded any COVID-19 deaths through the crisis, and the entire country has only seen around 300 cases of the disease due to the extensive preventative measures it took beginning in January. But while most of social and economic activities in Vietnam have been brought back to a “new normal” since late April, disruptions in foreign markets, tangled supply chains, and suppressed demand have hurt its seafood export sector, upon which the country’s pangasius traders depend heavily.
April 22, 2020 — Glimpsing beyond a current lack of demand from Vietnam’s major export markets, executives at the country’s top shrimp trading firms are expressing deepening concern about a possible global shortage of shrimp in the latter half of the year.
Once COVID-19 began to spread beyond its origins in China, one by one, Vietnam’s shrimp-trading partners have significantly throttled down their imports. Starting in late February and early March, many importers in Europe stopped receiving cargoes, and by mid-March, customers in North America, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, and South America also increasingly decided to cancel or postpone orders. Stockpiles rose as companies could not export as planned, according to numerous executives interviewed by SeafoodSource. As a result, Vietnam’s export value of shrimp declined nearly 15 percent year-on-year to USD 207.7 million (EUR 190 million) in March, according to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
April 13, 2020 — Organizers of a government-sponsored shrimp exhibition in Vietnam have decided to reschedule the event for a second time over fears of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vietshrimp Aquaculture International Fair 2020, sponsored by Vietnam’s General Department of Fisheries and the Can Tho City government, will now take place from 7 to 9 October in Can Tho, in the Mekong Delta area.
March 24, 2020 — Domestic seafood enterprises have proposed many financial solutions to help them overcome difficulties in production and business during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Vietnam Association of Fisheries (VASEP).
They have a large inventory of seafood products while customers have delayed payment for many of their export batches. Meanwhile, the export value has also decreased significantly. Those have had a great impact on payment for their loans in March, April and May, VASEP said.
February 5, 2020 — The spread of the deadly coronavirus is drawing concern from fisheries authorities and seafood exporters in Vietnam as it begins to cause delays in the country’s trading with China.
However, Vietnamese seafood companies and executives interviewed by SeafoodSource said they are still projecting the impact of the outbreak will not hinder trade for long.
November 20, 2019 — A new report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) details of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing practices and child labor – from children as young as 11 – in distant water fishing vessels.
The report, titled “Caught in the net,” surveyed 239 crew from 41 Vietnamese fishing vessels that had been detained while fishing illegally in Thai waters. According to the report, which has been picked up by some international media, fishermen from Vietnam have been forced to travel outside their own waters due to the lack of any resources in their own country.
November 20, 2019 — The following was released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
FDA and state health authorities are investigating incidents of scombrotoxin fish poisoning linked to yellowfin tuna, also sometimes called ahi tuna. As a result of this investigation, FDA has placed Truong Phu Xanh Co, LTD of Vietnam on Import Alert, which provides information to FDA field staff that they may detain the firm’s yellowfin tuna without physical examination. Detained product will not enter the United States unless the importer proves that it meets U.S. food safety standards.
FDA asked for the supplier of yellowfin tuna associated with most of the illnesses, Truong Phu Xanh Co., LTD of Vietnam, to initiate a voluntary recall of all of its imported yellowfin tuna with production dates from January 2019 to the present. At this time, the firm has not recalled any product.