Under the agreement signed among VASEP, VINAFIS, WWF Viet Nam and WWF International in December 2010, Viet Nam will try to have 25% of Pangasius export production certified sustainable standards, with at least 10% ASC certified in 2011- 2012. So far, twenty-five farms, accounting for 11% of the total export volume in 2011, are on their way to the certification.

(vasep.com.com) Lack of capital for operations and declining EU market were two main factors of Vietnam pangasius industry in the second quarter and also the first half of 2012. Earnings from pangasius export reached US$428.3 million in Q.II/2012, up only 6 percent. This figures was below the growth of 13 percent in Q.I/2012, when the fish totaled US$428.3 million. Fish trade began stumbling in June with 14.4 percent drop. In January – June 2012, shipments of pangasius products totaled US$853.7 million, up only 3 percent from the same period last year. Vietnam’s fish sales continued to slide 10 percent showed little sign of recovery in July, particularly when it was to soon to see the effectiveness of the government’s VND9,000 billion loan package to help farmers and processors overcome difficulties.

The Vietnamese government wants to develope a stronger distribution network for its seafood exports in its major markets.

(Thefishsite) Stuart Lumb, contributor to TheFishSite, visits the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam to look at catfish production. Fish farming and the Mekong Delta are synonymous - when you want to see fish farming in the country you have to travel to this part of Viet Nam. This complex delta system is contained in a triangular area to the west of Ho Chi Minh City, with many of the villages in the delta connected by water rather than by roads.

(vasep.com.vn) On 27th June and 3rd July 2012, VASEP held meetings with representatives of 30 local leading pangasius exporters (accounting for more than 80 percent of Vietnam total fish export value) to establish the floor price for pangasius in an aim to keep the real value of the fish. The new price will be firstly applied to the U.S. market.

Many of Vietnam’s pangasius farmers are stopping production due to price drops partly prompted by price controls set by government in a crackdown on inflation, according to Dr. Flavio Corsin, manager of IDH Vietnam, a body advising local producers on sustainable production.