According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam's bivalve mollusk export turnover in the first nine months of 2023 reached US $98 million, down 11% over the same period last year. Of which, clam shipments alone reached US $62 million, a fall of 19%. Among nearly 60 exporting markets worldwide for bivalve mollusks during the period, the top 9 includes Spain, Italy, Portugal, Japan, America, and China.

Clam is one of the main aquatic products of Vietnam and a popular product in many markets such as the US, Japan, Malaysia and Australia in recent years (Photo: Vietnamnet).

The Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Vietnamese clams are also a key commodity that brings economic value and development potential. Clam farms can be found in many provinces such as Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Ben Tre, Tien Giang and Tra Vinh.

Investing in commercial clams for export

Head of the Aquaculture Desk under the Nam Dinh Fisheries Sub-department Tong Thi Luong used the Dutch Lenger Seafood Vietnam Co., Ltd. as an example of investors in processing commercial clams for export in Nam Dinh province.

The Dutch Lenger SeaFood Group has surveyed six clam farming provinces in Vietnam, said Luong. Realizing the long-term clam farming potential of Nam Dinh Province, it decided to build a clam processing factory and establish Lenger Seafood Vietnam Co., Ltd.

Also, since 2019, the Nam Dinh Fisheries Sub-department has worked with other units in the industry to coordinate and support this investor in linking with farming households in Nghia Hung District to reorganize production towards sustainable clam farming.

By 2020, Lenger Seafood Vietnam's farming area was certified as the first sustainable clam farming area according to ASC (Accounting Standards Codification) standards in the world. This helps create favorable conditions to open new consumption markets for clams.

Luong added that Nam Dinh Fisheries Sub-department and Lenger Vietnam jointly built a high-tech clam seed production project and a clam farming model in ponds. This project will help improve the quality of clam varieties from the initial production stage, minimizing difficulties and risks when raising clams on tidal flats.

A variety of clam products from Vietnam to the world

Dinh Xuan Lap, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Center for Sustainable Aquaculture and Fisheries (ICAFIS) under the Vietnam Fisheries Association, said that Vietnamese clams, especially the Myratrix Lyrata white clam, have great competitiveness in the world market.

Another potential sector is deep-water clam farming to increase organic production. Also, Vietnamese white clams can be processed into a wider variety of products to suit the global market.

Meanwhile, many farms strive for the ASC certification to showcase the high quality of Vietnamese clams. According to the representative from the Nam Dinh Fisheries Sub-Department, the department works closely with the Nam Dinh Agro-Forestry-Fisheries and Fisheries Quality Management Sub-Department to deploy monthly environmental monitoring in concentrated clam farming areas.

At the same time, they have implemented a food safety monitoring programme in collecting bivalve mollusks. From there, Lenger can choose and evaluate product quality more accurately, helping improve the sale of clam products, cited VNS.

Nguyen Ho Nguyen, general director of Lenger Vietnam Seafood Co., Ltd., said that the company is one of the first to achieve ASC certification for Vietnamese clams. Currently, Lenger Vietnam has built a 500ha clam beach, and is developing other farms to support this important certification.

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