This month, the country netted its largest tuna catch ever. Taking to market more than 4,000 tons of tuna fish, double the amount caught during the same period last year, the ministry said.
Vietnam's tuna industry is still young, employing limited equipment, and obsolete preservation and sales techniques, the Vietnam ministry of Fisheries said.
Revenues for Vietnam's seafood exports increased this month after dropping in August.
The country exported US$1.44 million of seafood in September 16 percent more than the month before, the Ministry said.
“The increase is mainly due to businesses exporting to Asian and European markets,†said Deputy Minister of Fisheries Nguyen Thi Hong Minh. “Exports to Japan, the European Union, South Korea and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are planned to increase by the end of the year.â€
Seafood sales to the US fell due to a decline in shrimp exports following the preliminary decision by the US Department of Commerce regarding the alleged dumping of shrimp on the US market, Minh said.
Vietnam's total seafood export revenues for the first nine months of the year were estimated to have reached $1.658 billion, a 2.2 per cent increase from the same period last year, the ministry said.
By September, Vietnam had sold 345,687 tons of seafood to foreign countries and territories, including 92,353 tons of frozen shrimp, 41,453 tons of cuttle-fish and octopus and 139,732 tons of fish, the ministry said.
Minh said that Vietnamese processed seafood meets international standards for quality and food safety.
Seafood enterprises have also focused on the domestic market by selling various kinds of processed seafood to supermarkets and at trade fairs, she said.
According to the ministry, Vietnam caught an estimated 1.13 million tons of seafood in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 0.15 per cent against the same period last year. Of the figure, 123,000 tons were caught in September alone.