20-Aug-10
ADDING FISH OIL TO LOW-FAT/HIGH-CARB DIET MAY IMPROVE CHOLESTEROL
US SUED FOR IMPOSING HIGH TAXES ON VIETNAMESE SHRIMP
18-Aug-10
VIETNAM TO EXPORT PUFFER FISH
5-Aug-10
VIETNAM'S SEAFOOD EXPORT VALUE TO INCREASE THIS YEAR
3-Aug-10
CATFISH EXPORTS TO RUSSIA RISE BY 10 PER CENT
29-Jul-10
PANGASIUS PRODUCERS SEEKING GLOBAL CERTIFICATES
20 August 2010
Strategy helped those with cluster of unhealthy heart risk factors, study found
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- For people with the metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of blood fats or triglycerides and high blood sugar -- adding a little fish oil to a diet low in saturated fats and high in complex carbohydrates might be just the ticket, a new study suggests.
" When you add omega-3 to a high carbohydrate, low-fat diet, you can prevent the long-term adverse effect that a high-carbohydrate diet induces on [blood fats] ," said study author Dr. Jose Lopez-Miranda, a professor of medicine at the Reina Sofia University Hospital and the University of Cordoba, Spain.

The study is published in the September issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
Lopez-Miranda and his team looked at 117 people with metabolic syndrome, which raises the risk of heart disease and stroke. They assigned them to one of four diets for 12 weeks. The diets were: high fat/rich in saturated fats; high fat/rich in monounsaturated fats (such as fish and olive oil), low fat and high in complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables), low fat and high in complex carbs but with the fish oil supplement included.
All four diets included about the same number of calories. The researchers tested blood before and after eating, looking for blood fat levels.
At the study's start, all participants had similar post-meal blood fat responses. But by the end of the threemonth trial, those on the high-fat/monounsaturated fat-rich diet or the low-fat, high complex carbohydrate diet with fish oil had better responses.
For example, those on the low-fat/high-carb diet plus fish oil showed lower levels of triglyceride blood fats, compared to people eating a high-fat diet rich in saturated fats, the researchers found. And people eating the low-fat/high-carb regimen alone (without fish oil) had a rise in triglycerides and cholesterol, compared to when fish oil was added.
The researchers believe that adding polyunsaturated fat -- such as those found in fish oil -- can help undercut the effects of a long-term low-fat, high complex carbohydrate diet on triglyceride levels in those with
metabolic syndrome. In the study, participants got 1.24 grams of fish oil a day (between one and two standard capsules).
"This is a good study," said Tracy L. Nelson, an associate professor of health and exercise science at Colorado
State University School of Public Health in Fort Collins, who has researched omega-3 fatty acids.
"The interesting aspects are that they found the low-fat complex carbohydrate group, when supplemented with a 'realistic' amount of omega-3 fats [1.24 grams] did not increase trigylcerides as seen with the low-fat complex carbohydrate diet without the addition of omega-3s."
"This study is encouraging, because these individuals consumed their 'own' food given the parameters of the study, similar to what a metabolic syndrome patient would be told to do in the 'real world,' and by simply adding a very realistic amount of omega-3s, these individuals can change [after-meal] triglycerides without weight loss,"
Nelson added. "The fact that they found changes in a 'diseased' group adds to the impact of the paper."
More information
There's more on the metabolic syndrome at the American Heart Association .
SOURCES: Tracy L. Nelson, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor, health and exercise science, Colorado State
University School of Public Health, Fort Collins; Jose Lopez-Miranda, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medicine, Reina
Sofia University Hospital, University of Cordoba, Spain; September 2010 Journal of Nutrition
Last Updated: Aug. 20, 2010
Copyright © 2010 HealthDay . All rights reserved.
Source - http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=642322

Vietnam on August 20 brought a lawsuit protesting against the US imposition of anti-dumping taxes on the country’s shrimp to the Panel of the Dispute Settlement Body (PDSB) under the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) in Switzerland.
This is the first step in the process conducted by the PDSB. Three PDSB members, appointed by the WTO
Director General Pascal Lamy in July, will consider the petition and consult the PDSB about whether to make a recommendation or a decision.
The PDSB will propose a solution if it finds any violation of WTO rules or regulations. The proposal will become a final decision if it is approved by the Dispute Settlement Body.
Three weeks after both sides are informed of the final determination, it will be publisized to all WTO members.
Vietnam and the US met in 2010 to settle the case but could not reach any agreement. Vietnam filed a petition in the hope that the WTO would force the US to change its zeroing calculations.
Source - http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/US-sued-for-imposing-high-taxes-on-Vietnameseshrimp/20108/118801.vov
VIET NAM - The government has given the green light for Viet Nam to begin exporting puffer fish for the first time.
Fishermen and seafood processors in the provinces of Kien Giang and Khanh Hoa, where waters are rich in puffer fish, have been selected to become the first exporters on a pilot basis under the supervision of the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The government has given the green light for Vietnam to begin exporting puffer fish for the first time.
Fishermen and seafood processors in the provinces of Kien Giang and Khanh Hoa, where waters are rich in puffer fish, have been selected to become the first exporters on a pilot basis under the supervision of the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The fish poses risks since it contains toxins that can be harmful to customers, and Vietnamese fishermen have lacked the skills and techniques to process the fish, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Luong Le Phuong.
The government banned exploiting, processing and trading in puffer fish in 2003 after a number of deaths caused by improper processing, but the fish has high commercial value if safely processed to clear all toxins,
Ms Phuong said.
Puffer fish are used not only for food but to produce pharmaceutical products in Japan, South Korea and other markets, he said.

Importers from Japan, Korea and China have all expressed interest in buying the fish from Vietnam, he said.
Under a three-year ministry plan, an estimated 800 to 1,000 metric tons of processed fish would be exported annually at $5 (€3.85) to $10 (€7.70) per kilogram, earning a turnover of between $4 million (€3.1 million) and
$10 million (€7.7 million) each year.
The business is expected to generate jobs for 600 to 1,000 workers.
Kien Giang and Khanh Hoa would each choose two qualified businesses towork with RoK's Poseidon Seafood Co.
– the sole partner allowed to import puffer fish from Vietnam under the initial period -- to classify and process puffer fish for export.
The deputy director of Kien Giang province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Ngoc
Phuong, said a training course began Monday for workers of the two chosen export companies in the province, with experts from the National Agro-Forestry and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department and Poseidon
Seafood Co.
"Workers will be equipped with essential knowledge and techniques, from classifying different kinds of puffer fish to preserving and processing the fish to clear out all poisonous substance," she said.
Apart from the two chosen companies, all other individuals and businesses would continue to be banned from exploiting, processing and trading in puffer fish to ensure consumer safety, Ms Phuong said.
Duong Van Mun, a fisherman in Kien Giang's Kien Luong district, said he was very happy to know fisherman would be allowed to sell puffer fish.
"Whenever catching puffer fish, we used to throw away or process the fish into cattle feed at a very cheap price, but now we can expect to get a better profit," he said.
The pilot project also has a budget of VND 45 billion ($2.3 million/€) to VND 50 billion ($2.6 million/€) funded from state and provincial sources and investors.
Strict control and supervision would ensure safety and hygiene, from the catch to transport and processing of the fish, Ms Phuong said.
There are an estimated 40 different varieties of puffer fish in Vietnam, with a potential estimated catch of more than 37,300 metric tons per year, according to the ministry.
Source - http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/12893/viet-nam-to-export-puffer-fish

VIET NAM - The total export value of seafood is expected to increase by 13.4 per cent to US$4.8 billion this year, Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Centre of Informatics and Statistics has announced.
World prices for many types of seafood had increased sharply since early this year due to a short supply, the centre said. The shrimp price for jumped by 40 per cent to $14 per kilo in the US while tra fish fillet saw a 20 per cent price jump to $3.5 per kilo against April prices.
The shrimp price in Japan also surged by 18 per cent over the early months of the year.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and crop failures in shrimp exporting countries, including Thailand and India, resulted in advantages for Vietnam's seafood export enterprises, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood
Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
In the first seven months of this year, shrimp overtook tra for first place in export value among Vietnam's key seafood export products, the ministry said.
The export value of shrimp in the first seven months had a year-on-year increase of 22 per cent to $717 million, accounting for 35.5 per cent of the country's total seafood export value.
The value of tra exports and tuna exports jumped by 7.9 per cent and 88 per cent, respectively, in the first seven months.
In that period, the total national seafood export value increased by 11.6 per cent to $2.45 billion over the same period last year.
Vietnam has exported seafood to 143 countries and territories, with the European Union being the largest export market so far . Seafood exports to the EU reached 164,000 tonnes for $502 million in earnings, accounting for 24.5 per cent of the country's total.
Other major export markets included the US, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, China and ASEAN countries.
Source - http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/12777/vietnams-seafood-export-value-to-increase-this-year
VIET NAM — Viet Nam shipped more than 20,000 tonnes of tra and basa catfish to Russia in the first seven

months of 2010, an increase of more than 2,000 tonnes year-on-year.
Speaking at a meeting in HCM City yesterday to review tra exports to Russia, Duong Ngoc Minh, head of the tra catfish export management board to Russia, told the Viet Nam News Agency that the average export price was
US$1.71 per kilogramme, up nine cents from the same period last year.
Russia's tightening of quality norms for seafood imports and the onset of the salmon fishing season in
September will have negative impacts on the exports, he said.
But the export target of $100 million set for this year is likely to be achieved.
Seafood export companies would have a chance to promote their products and look for new partners in Eastern
Europe when they go for the World Food Moscow 2010 in mid-September, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development Luong Le Phuong said.
Source - http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/12769/catfish-exports-to-russia-rise-by-10-per-cent
Vietnamese pangasius producers are increasingly applying for global quality certificates to tap large export
markets.
Official data revealed that Vietnamese exports of pangasius are on the rise, with volumes in Mekong Delta increasing by nearly a fifth to more than 300,000 metric tons in the first half of 2010 . So to tap the untouched big export markets the seafood producers of the nation are seeking global quality certificates. Large numbers of
Vietnamese producers and exporters in Mekong Delta are applying for quality certificates such as EuroGap,
GlobalGap and HACCP to reach markets such as the United States, the European Union and Japan.
Vinh Hoan is the latest pangasius exporter to receive the certificate since NTCA Corp and shrimp exporter Minh
Phu Corp were certified. Vinh Hoan said it now expects to build up its export capacity and raise the average value of its pangasius by 10 percent to 20 percent. Ngo Phuoc Hau, who chairs the Fresh Water Fish Committee under the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that producers are also increasingly starting to farm their own fish to better control the quality.
Vietnam’s government recently identified pangasius as a key export and approved a $42 million (€32.6 million) project to develop the production and sales of the fish in Mekong Delta till 2020. This year, total output is also expected to increase to 1.5 million metric tons, valued at $1.5 billion (€1.2 billion).
Source - http://www.worldfishingtoday.com/news/default.asp?nyId=5953