Vietnam’s Directorate of Fisheries statistics indicate that in September aquaculture production registered an estimate of 284,000 tonnes, which drove the estimated figure to 2,359,000 tonnes in the first nine months of the year. Out of that total, 723,000 tonnes were pangasius or Vietnamese tra.
Besides, Vietnam Customs reported that the country pangasius products worth USD 7.67 million were exported up to August this year, having increased from USD 5.9 million compared to the same period in 2012.
According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP), India has been importing more Vietnamese tra over the last three years thanks to affordable prices and generous supply. This is also a consequence of Indian marine stocks currently on the decrease, which has led local fishermen to focus on smaller species and to the lack of quality raw materials for processing fish fillets has in the country.
The seafood consumption per capita in India is steadily going up. More seafood demand from the densely populated country has meant rampant overfishing has led to the rapid depletion of fish stocks. On the other hand, rapid urbanization has meant a greater variety of new supermarkets, and this, in turn has led to more choice in consumer goods.
In 2008-2009 fiscal year, catches went up 7 per cent but this percentage went down in the period of 2012-2013 (3.5 per cent).
In 2012, USD 68.39 milllion was spent in India on seafood imports, a decrease of 39 per cent from USD 112.4 million the year before. From these figures, seafood from Bangladesh represented 53 per cent of the total seafood consumption, with a value of USD 36.39 million. The second supplier was Vietnam worth USD 11.25 million, or 16.5 per cent.
Market shares of products from Vietnam in India increased from 7.7 per cent in 2011 to 16.5 per cent in 2012. On the other hand, shares from Bangladesh went down from 77.9 per cent to 53 per cent in 2012.
Last year, purchase of seafood products in India went up compared to 2011, excluding fresh fish, which decreased 59.8 per cent. The highest growth of 829 per cent was seen in live fish species. It was followed by frozen fishes with a 84.6 per cent rise.
Imported frozen fish fillets spendings in India were worth USD 10.5 million in 2012. The leading supplier was Vietnam worth USD 7.69 million, up almost 32 per cent from USD 5.8 million in 2011 and represented 73 per cent of proportion.
For the most part, India bought pangasius from Vietnam, which is the main factor of a strong increase in seafood imports from Vietnam during the recent years.
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