Depleted fish stocks challenge future of Asia seafood industry

Food safety and the depletion of fish stocks will remain key challenges for Asian seafood producers, according to Rabobank International.

Patric Vizzone, regional head for Asia food and agribusiness at Rabobank International, said the decline in wild fish populations in East Asia was a global concern.

East Asia accounts for 45% or 41.7 million tonnes of the global wild catch and nearly 90% or 42.8 million tonnes of global aquaculture.

East Asia, which includes China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia, also accounts for 55% of global seafood production, and leads other regions in terms of annual growth at 5% for both wild catch and aquaculture.

"There is a growing regional consensus on the need for co-ordination and streamlined action to preserve this valuable and precious resource as the world's marine environment is now degraded resulting from several factors including over-fishing, sea-bed trawling, increasing upstream trash fish catches," Mr Vizzone said.

Food safety issues were another key challenge, he said.

For Thailand, seafood production in 2006 totalled nearly four million tonnes, with around half for export.
Over the course of a year, the average Thai will consume about 33 kilogrammes of seafood.

Thailand is the world's third largest exporter of seafood after China and Norway, and is a leading producer of shrimp and tuna.

The country has more than 20,000 shrimp farms, and enjoys a solid advantage in terms of competitive prices, product quality and canning processes.

Mr Vizzone said while many seafood producers chose China as a production centre, Thailand remains a key export base thanks to government support and the country's strong food safety reputation in Europe and the United States.

"Thailand's seafood industry is at a mature stage, and will be difficult to beat by competitors such as China, Vietnam, Malaysia," he said.

He said the Thai government had also played a successful role in mitigating food safety concerns and enforcing standards.

While complying with safety standards may result in higher production costs, Mr Vizzone said the growing importance of food safety in the eyes of consumers would help create a competitive advantage for producers in the long run.

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Depleted fish stocks challenge future of Asia seafood industry