Farmers, who want shrimp to grow rapidly to have early harvesting, are trying to increase density and yield. But this is doing more harm than good.

Two leading enterprises in the seafood sector, known as ‘Shrimp King’ and ‘Catfish Queen’, have had to lower their business targets in 2023 amid a sharp fall in world demand.

The first 4 months of 2023 saw Vietnam’s tuna exports to Mexico hit nearly US$7.4 million, up 44% over the same period from last year 2022, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers VASEP

Exporters of fishery products could hardly achieve the target of US$10 billion in revenue this year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Some developed countries have installed new technical barriers, such as requirements on clean energy and low-carbon production. These are the ‘new rules of the game’ which has put Vietnam in an unequal race.

Japan has surpassed the US to become the biggest importer of Vietnam’s fishery products, with over 310 million USD in value in the first quarter of 2023, reported the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Japan has outpaced the US to become the largest consumer of Vietnamese seafood, although the export of these products to this market decreased by 11% to over US$310 million in the first quarter of 2023.

While Vietnam’s export of several key agro-forestry-aquatic products endured a sharp drop of 14.40 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2023, seafood exports were hardest hit with the on-year fall of 29 percent.

Vietnam’s export of crab and other crustaceans to Japan generated US$8.1 million during the first two months of the year, up 128% compared to the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Vietnam expects to rake in between 800,000 to 1 billion USD worth of seaculture product exports by 2025, according to a development project of the sector towards 2030 with a vision to 2045.

ASEAN has become Vietnam’s fourth largest seafood export market amid local seafood exports to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Brunei recording a sharp annual increase in January, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The nation remained the third largest seafood supplier to the Republic of Korea (RoK) last year with the country’s seafood market share as part of the RoK’s total imports reaching 10.2%, according to statistics released by the Korea Customs Service.

Vietnamese seafood exports to China are expected to boom after China opens its borders and lifts all isolation measures to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic this month.

Seafood companies no longer see bright prospects as the global situation has worsened compared with the previous period. Domestically, the situation is also problematic with interest rates rising sharply.

Vietnam's seafood industry enjoyed a significant increase after more than three years of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) taking place.

The economy and the food sector are recovering, especially since both are utilising the advantages of free trade agreements that have opened opportunities and ample room for Vietnam’s seafood exports in 2022.