Toan Dao

Contributing Editor reporting from Hanoi, Vietnam

Toan Dao has written about Vietnam’s business community, with a focus on energy and agriculture, for a number of Vietnamese and international outlets for more than 10 years. As a contributing editor for SeafoodSource in Southeast Asia, he also covers other major seafood producers in the region including Indonesia and Thailand.


Author Archive

Published on
August 18, 2025

The U.S.’s reciprocal tariffs on many shrimp-exporting countries are realigning global supply chains and forcing major Asian producers, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, to rethink their strategies.

India, the largest shrimp supplier to the U.S., faces the most severe impact from the newly implemented tariffs. The nation is currently subject to a 25 percent reciprocal tariff, which could jump to 50 percent on 27 August under a new

Read More
Published on
August 13, 2025

Vietnam’s pangasius sector has adapted well so far amid the trade disruptions thrown at it this year, with leading exporters posting high profits on the back of early export pushes and aggressive cost-cutting during the second quarter of 2025.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), pangasius exports in the first half of the year overall were worth just over USD 1 billion (EUR 878.5 million),

Read More
Published on
August 11, 2025

Malaysia is pushing to strengthen its Fisheries Act in an attempt to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The Southeast Asian nation has in recent years been heavily targeted by IUU fishing, particularly by foreign vessels. Between 2020 and 2024, authorities documented 515 cases of foreign vessel intrusion in Malaysian waters, the New Straits Times reported, citing Malaysia Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister

Read More
Published on
August 6, 2025

Fish stocks across the Philippines are shrinking as illegal fishing and decades of overexploitation are putting mounting pressure on the country’s marine resources.

A new analysis conducted by ocean advocacy nonprofit Oceana highlights that fish production from both commercial and municipal sectors in the Philippines has steadily declined since peaking in 2010.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Oceana reported

Read More
Published on
August 5, 2025

Samut Sakhon, Thailand-based food and beverage manufacturing company Thai Union reported profit growth in the second quarter of this year, even as it experienced a year-over-year sales drop in the period.

In its latest results report, the firm attributed its ability to still turn a profit amid the sales dip to strong cost discipline and improved gross margins in the face of persistent geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds.

The company’s

Read More
Published on
August 1, 2025

Myanmar’s seafood exports declined between April and June of this year, even as the nation shortened its annual fishing ban aimed at giving key species time to spawn.

During the period, Myanmar exported 55,900 metric tons (MT) of seafood products worth USD 64.2 million (EUR 55.3 million), marking a drop of 8.8 percent year over year by volume and 7.5 percent by value compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from

Read More
Published on
August 1, 2025

Vietnam’s tuna export industry is under pressure as domestic raw material shortages and stricter compliance rules have eroded its competitiveness in key markets.

The pressures on the industry have intensified recently amid tightening rules on traceability and fishing practices, particularly under a governmental decree introduced last year that restricts the purchase and processing of undersized skipjack tuna. The decree, effective from May

Read More
Published on
July 29, 2025

India’s seafood industry is poised for a major export boost following the recent signing of the India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which eliminates import tariffs on a wide range of Indian marine products entering the U.K.

Signed on 24 July, the deal grants zero-duty access to 99 percent of tariff lines. 

Industry estimates suggest the deal could result in 70 percent growth in India’s seafood exports

Read More
Published on
July 28, 2025

Sri Lanka has introduced a new set of rules to regulate the re-export of shrimp, aiming to address concerns from local farmers and maintain the country’s competitiveness in global seafood markets.

In recent years, the Sri Lankan government has allowed increasing imports of foreign shrimp for value addition and re-export purposes, aiming to meet international demand for seafood and accommodate rising domestic consumption, according to Sri

Read More
Published on
July 25, 2025

After three straight months of growth, Vietnam’s seafood sales to the U.S. dropped in June.

June marked the first monthly year-over-year decline in Vietnam’s seafood exports to the U.S. since February, with total export value diving 17.7 percent to USD 131 million (EUR 113 million), the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said on 17 July.

The decrease was largely driven by the downward trend in sales value

Read More