The Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance (Cuc Thuy san – Kiem ngu) of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has set out an "animal welfare roadmap" for farmed seafood (reported June 29, 2026, nongnghiepmoitruong.vn). The first targets are shrimp and pangasius. For Japanese food buyers and importers, it is a sign that the procurement conditions for Vietnamese aquaculture are changing yet another notch. That is because consideration for welfare is shifting from a matter of cost and regulation to a "condition of market access" that determines whether product makes it onto the shelves of export destinations.
What was announced
What the fisheries department laid out is a path for gradually introducing the concept of animal welfare into aquaculture sites. The pillars broadly divide into four. First, an assessment phase that examines the actual rearing situation and adoption needs of major farmed species; next, awareness-raising and training for farmers and companies; then the development of technical guidelines incorporating the rearing environment, nutrition, health management and welfare monitoring; and finally, verification of the effects of adoption. Placed at the foundation is the framework of the "Five Freedoms" that has been shared internationally in livestock welfare (freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom from fear and distress).
Nhu Van Can, Deputy Director of the fisheries department, stated that animal welfare is "becoming an increasingly important market requirement" for accessing international supply chains. Conversely, this means it is being raised not as an ethical ideal but as a practical issue of export competitiveness.
Why welfare now
Behind this is a trend in which major export certifications have begun, one after another, to incorporate welfare standards. The international aquaculture certifications ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council), GlobalGAP and BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) have until now assessed mainly water quality, disease management and food safety. To these, welfare perspectives such as sound handling and stress reduction are now being added. It is linked to moves by major EU and North American retailers, the buyers, to spell out animal welfare in their procurement policies.
For Vietnam, the situation with pangasius is especially acute. Vietnam accounts for over 50% of the world's pangasius supply and is said to hold about 90% of world export volume. Precisely because it is an item close to a de facto production monopoly, if buyers' demands change, the entire production area has no choice but to move in the same direction. When welfare-related requirements turn into "a premise of export," a slow response would shake the monopolistic position itself. This is the reason the roadmap put pangasius at the top of the list.
The private sector is already off and running
Ahead of the national roadmap, verification is advancing in the field. FAI, a specialist welfare-assessment body, and Fresh Studio, a Vietnamese food-consulting company, have begun developing Vietnam's first pangasius welfare-assessment protocol. They are conducting tests and verification at more than 100 farms in the country, aiming for completion within 2026. The assessment axes are four categories—environment, health, nutrition and behavior—and a distinctive feature is that they cover the entire supply chain, including not only farming but also transport and processing.
Joe Pearce of Fresh Studio says that "improving welfare not only leads to healthier fish and higher-quality products, but also raises the resilience of farmers' businesses." Oistein Thorsen, CEO of FAI, has likewise stated, in essence, that if welfare improves, fish become more resistant and mortality falls, allowing quality and productivity to be delivered stably. It is the on-the-ground logic that welfare can be a means of improving yield rather than a cost increase. The fact that national policy and private-sector verification are running at the same time suggests how serious this move is.
Vietnamese seafood's current position, in figures
The skill or clumsiness of the welfare response matters precisely now, while exports are growing. According to tallies by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and others, total seafood exports in January–May 2026 were US$4.67 billion, up 11% year on year. Of this, shrimp was about US$1.9 billion (up 11.5%, about 40.4% of all seafood) and pangasius about US$905 million (up 12.6%), with these two items leading exports. The items the roadmap placed at the highest priority overlap exactly with the mainstays of exports.
| Item | January–May 2026 | Year on year |
|---|---|---|
| Total seafood exports | US$4.67 billion | +11% |
| Shrimp | About US$1.9 billion (about 40.4% of the total) | +11.5% |
| Pangasius | About US$905 million | +12.6% |
What the Japanese procurement side should watch for
For Japanese buyers, this is by no means a distant story. For pangasius, Aeon has already led the way in selling ASC-certified product domestically, and ASC-certified shrimp is also on the shelves. For retailers that have broadened their handling of certified seafood, the welfare framework being put in place on the production side is a plus that makes it easier to fulfill accountability in procurement. how Japanese procurement moves as Vietnamese seafood strengthens its China shift For readers who have followed this, the significance of a new axis of differentiation—welfare—being added should be large.
In practical terms, for the time being there is a high likelihood that the roadmap will start from "voluntary add-on standards." That is exactly why it is worth checking, before contract renewal, whether the farms and processors you currently deal with are participating in the verification of the welfare protocol, and how welfare items are treated at the renewal of ASC, GlobalGAP and BAP. Securing early the production areas and processing plants that have advanced their welfare response lets you avoid the risk of supply disruption when the requirements switch to full-fledged conditions. Already, individual shrimp producers taking on year-round farming and other advanced sites have begun to emerge, and such producers tend to be ahead on the welfare response too.
Ripple effects on the market
Vietnam raising a welfare roadmap at the national level is also an expression of a major Southeast Asian aquaculture nation trying to shift its footing from a competition of "volume and price" to one of "quality and trust." If it can get ahead on welfare standards for pangasius, which is close to a production monopoly, that connects directly to bargaining power on price too. On the other hand, issues such as stocking density, stress reduction and humane slaughter involve capital investment and a review of work procedures, so how to keep step with small-scale farmers will be the focus going forward. For Japanese buyers, taking a positive view of welfare as "a new added value of Vietnamese aquaculture" and arranging early a procurement policy that supports the production areas' transition leads to getting both stable procurement and differentiation.
Sources
Nong nghiep Moi truong: Lo trinh dam bao phuc loi cho thuy san nuoi tai Viet Nam
Hatchery International: Welfare protocol in development for Vietnam’s pangasius sector
Vietnam.vn: Shrimp and pangasius continue to lead seafood exports
ASC Japan: ASC-certified pangasius lands in Japan for the first time
