In the context of fluctuating prices and increasingly stringent technical barriers, many seafood businesses are being forced to rethink their approach to environmental issues. In reality, going green is no longer a cost burden; it is becoming an effective financial management tool that helps save energy, overcome tax barriers, and optimize cash flow.
“GREEN” – FROM SUNK COST TO REALIZED PROFIT
For a long time, most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have viewed environmental investment as an expense that eats into profits. However, financial data from the 2024–2025 period is showing a completely different picture.
According to an energy review report by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the transition in refrigeration technology at processing plants has created major changes in operating costs. Specifically, 73% of large-scale processing plants have completely eliminated R22 refrigerant—a substance that depletes the ozone layer—to switch to systems using NH3, CO2, or NH3/CO2 combinations.
The results are not limited to environmental certifications. More importantly, these new systems help reduce monthly operating electricity costs by up to 20%. In a context where industrial electricity prices are trending upward, this savings is pure retained profit, creating room for businesses to strengthen their price competitiveness against rivals from Ecuador or India.
However, these benefits have not yet spread evenly. Nationwide, there are still more than 3,000 medium and small cold storage facilities using outdated technology. Delayed conversion not only keeps electricity costs high, but also risks exclusion from the supply chains of major retail corporations in the EU, where energy audits have begun to be applied to suppliers.
LACK OF EMISSIONS DATA – THE INDUSTRY’S “INVISIBLE LOSS”
If electricity savings are an obvious benefit, the lack of emissions data is becoming a quiet but serious risk. At the 2025 Conference on Environmental Protection in Fisheries Activities, Deputy Minister Phùng Đức Tiến pointed out the challenges in maintaining the industry’s 16% growth momentum, with export turnover reaching USD 9.5 billion in the first 10 months of the year.
One of the biggest barriers is the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). According to VASEP analysis, Vietnam’s seafood industry currently does not have internationally recognized specific emission factors for shrimp and pangasius.
As a result, when businesses do not measure and report using standardized data, they are forced to accept default international emission factors, which are often much higher than actual production conditions in Vietnam. This causes Vietnamese seafood products to be “assigned” high emissions levels, increasing the risk of higher carbon taxes or being rated as less environmentally friendly on supermarket shelves.
Mr. Vũ Thái Trường, Head of Climate Change, Energy and Environment at UNDP in Vietnam, said that the lack of a standardized data system and technical capacity is a “bottleneck” making billions of dollars in exports vulnerable to new technical barriers.
COST PRESSURE STARTING RIGHT FROM THE FARMING AREAS
Not only in processing, but environmental issues in farming areas also pose many economic challenges. A report from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Gia Lai shows that, with 5,237 hectares of aquaculture, the locality is under significant pressure from waste generated in high-density white-leg shrimp farming models.
The cost of maintaining sustainability certifications such as ASC and GlobalGAP currently accounts for 3–5% of product cost—a significant figure for farmers. However, if wastewater and sludge treatment are not properly invested in, the price to pay is even greater: disease, environmental degradation, and reduced productivity.
The reality of direct waste discharge into the environment due to a lack of synchronized infrastructure in Gia Lai, despite the province’s target of having 92% of industrial parks with compliant wastewater treatment systems by the end of 2025, is a clear warning. Polluted environments will quickly come back to negatively affect farming efficiency itself, turning last season’s profit into the next season’s remediation cost.
UNLOCKING GREEN CAPITAL AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The biggest challenge is funding for the green transition. According to experts from UNDP and the World Bank (WB), the solution cannot rely solely on businesses’ own capital.
Early implementation of preferential credit packages for green seafood—supporting investment in rooftop solar for factories, biogas systems for treating pond waste, or refrigeration technology conversion—will help reduce initial cost pressures. Low interest rates are the leverage that enables businesses and farmers to invest boldly for the long term.
At the same time, co-management models and the circular economy are showing many positive signals. Plastic waste, shrimp shells, fish by-products... if collected and processed properly, can absolutely become input materials for other industries, turning treatment costs into supplementary revenue.
ENVIRONMENT AND PROFIT – TWO SIDES OF THE SAME PROBLEM
The export target of USD 73–74 billion for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in 2026, the Net Zero commitment by 2050, and the challenge of treating 0.73 million tons of ocean plastic waste are not separate destinations. They are two sides of the same development strategy.
It is time for the seafood industry to change its mindset: from farmers and captains to processing business leaders. Protecting the environment is not just a “mandatory pass,” but a modern financial management tool, where every kWh of electricity saved and every kg of CO₂ reduced is transformed into sustainable profit and long-term competitiveness.
Hồng Ngọc
Source: Nongnghiepmoitruong.vn
