HCM City: Ornamental fish exports bring home USD 7 million

Ho Chi Minh City earned USD 7 million from shipping 7.4 million ornamental fish abroad by mid-June, up 13 percent in quantity and 32 percent in revenue from the same period last year, according to the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Key markets of Vietnamese pet fish include the US and some countries in the Europe and Asia.

Photo for illustration: cacanh.vn

Last year, the city exported 12 million ornamental fish and gained revenue of USD 11 million, doubling the 2010’s figures.

The exports were mainly neon fish, molly fish, sailfin molly, seven-colored fish, Siamese fighting fish and dicus. They were shipped to 47 countries worldwide with Europe accounting for 60-70 percent of the market share.

The city has 10 firms and fish breeding farms involved in exporting.

In the past five years, robust annual growth has been seen in the city’s ornamental fish exports, with 8.6 percent in quantity and 6.6 percent in revenue.

However, production scale is still small and cannot fill large orders. In comparison with regional rivals like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, Vietnam’s ornamental fish exports are still weak.

Under a program to boost ornamental fish breeding development, the city will focus on increasing quantity and product value, making upgrades to the breeding infrastructure to prevent disease and protecting the environment.

Ornamental fish production will be branched out to district 8, 9, 12, Go Vap, Thu Duc, Cu Chi, Binh Chanh and Hoc Mon while all breeding farms will join monitor programs for export.

The city has also mapped out breeding and technical programs and outlined mechanisms to boost ornamental fish development.

Along with setting up linkages between pet fish production and consumption, the city will also build a website on ornamental fish to introduce breeding farms and enterprises to customers.

Efficient production models which provide disease free fish for export and agricultural markets offering consultancy about pet fish will also be built.

Ho Chi Minh City expects to earn up to USD 50 million from exporting 40-50 million ornamental fish each year, according to the city’s ornamental fish development programme from 2016-2020.

Besides ornamental fish, the city has sold 4,307 crocodiles and 2,020 pieces of crocodile hide from the outset of this year.