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Ocean tuna price remains high in central region
The price of ocean tuna in the central region continues to be high at around VND170,000 per kilo as many local enterprises flocked to purchase the fish in the early days of the New Year.
The lowest current price for tuna is VND115,000 per kilo and almost all fishing boat owners have made a profit.
Ocean tuna is considered one of Vietnam’s three major seafood exports, in addition to tra fish and shrimp. According to the Vietnam Tuna Association, the reserves of tuna in Vietnam’s territorial waters are more than 50,000 tonnes, with around 17,000 tonnes able to be harvested for sustainable fishing. Fishermen in Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces currently catch around 10,000 tonnes of tuna each year. Most Vietnamese tuna is exported to Japan, Taiwan (China), the US, Australia and the European Union. However, Vietnamese ocean tuna is traded under foreign labels in the world market and no tuna processing establishments are set up in the country, leading to the unstable price of tuna.
In mid-2011, the Vinh Sam Company, Ltd in Phu Yen province set up a joint venture with five Japanese investors to process and export ocean tuna to foreign markets. They also pledged to develop a trademark for Phu Yen ocean tuna. By the end of February, the Japanese side plans to bring a boat to Phu Yen to purchase tuna from fishermen, with free rental of the boat for the first two years. The purchasing price of tuna depends on its quality and ranges between US$12-20 per kilo.
The joint venture aims to be fully operational in March 2012 and expects to export around 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes of tuna annually to foreign markets.
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