More than 43,000 fishing vessels were unable to head out to sea in the third quarter of this year due to COVID-19, especially in southern and central localities.

The pandemic has also had an enormous impact on production chains, resulting in a fall of uඣp to 20 percent compared to the same period last year.

Many seafood processing and exporting enterprises have actively applied measures to stabilise material supplies, organise safe production, and prevent the pandemic from spreading at plants. Demand in Vietnam’s five largest seafood markets - the US, Japan, China, the EU, and the Republic of Korea - is increasing during the year-end period, which is considered an opportunity to boost export activities. This is a chance for us to boost exports.Experts have acknowledged that there remain many challenges ahead, but if the seafood sector can take advantage and introduce suitable production activities then the sector can reach its export target of 3.6 million tonnes and turnover of 3.6 billion USD. Localities should also foresee any difficulties in material supplies, labour shortages, and more stringent requirements on quality and import procedures.In the meantime, seafood processers and exporters are advised to apply flexible pandemic prevention and control measures to ensure supply chains and help operations return to normal./.