Vietnam Emerged as Major Market for Indian 
Shrimp Exports in 2016
At the same time that India has become as major shrimp supplier to the US market, it has also stepped up exports to Vietnam with shipments in some months even surpassing those to the US. Last year Indian shrimp exports to Vietnamese and US markets increased 28 and 29 percent respectively and were the top two markets for Indian shippers. During India’s heavy harvest period last spring India’s shrimp exports to Vietnam were higher than exports to the US. Additionally, by December of last year, Indian shrimp exports to Vietnam and the US were about the same both in terms of volume and as a percentage of India’s overall exported market share. Vietnamese processors continue to report severe raw material shortages from domestic producers and higher dependence on imported materials. This is an indication that Vietnam will continue to buy foreign raw shrimp supplies so it can meet a goal to export $7.5 billion worth of seafood in 2017.
Vietnam loosened it soaking standards on pangasius fillets allowing for an 18 percent increase in moisture content. The new standard now requires only 14 percent of fish protein in treated pangasius fillets. This decision reverses an attempt by the Vietnamese government to cap soaking at 83 percent net weight. But this decree was staunchly opposed by some Vietnamese producers.
In other news, South Korea’s wild pollock population, considered near-extinct since the turn of the millennium, may be making a comeback. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Thursday that a wild pollock was caught in eastern waters near Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province. Experts blame global warming along with overfishing for the decline of the pollack population in South Korea, which according to data accounted for 14.9 percent of Korea’s entire seafood market in 1942. Currently, approximately 90 percent of pollock consumed in Korea is imported from either Russia or Japan.
Meanwhile, some Chinese shrimp farmers in Guangxi, are restarting production early this season. Currently more than half of the farmers have stocked their seed. Farmers are reporting high success rates in shrimp farming and satisfactory profit margins in the first round of seed stocking from last year. The first round of shrimp supplies are expected to hit the Chinese market this May.
Finally, Alaska's House Fisheries Committee will assess a resolution sponsored by several House Representatives “urging the United States government to continue to work with the government of Canada to investigate the long-term, region-wide downstream effects of proposed and existing industrial development and to develop measures to ensure that state resources are not harmed by upstream development in B.C.” Chris Zimmer, Rivers Without Borders Alaska campaign director, said Alaskans are troubled by B.C.’s lack of enforcement of mining regulations. The problem is that Canadian mining operations that go out of business are not required to clean up their sites. This has created leakage from abandoned mine works and sludge ponds, which have been polluting Alaskan waterways for decades.
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