Pangasius could play a major role in global surimi supply. Can Western markets be convinced to eat it?

Vietnam's biggest aquaculture product is finding a growing role in the country's surimi production, offering a possible stopgap for pollock and cod shortages in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Over the last couple of years, pangasius surimi production grew to between 25,000-30,000 metric tons, or around 15 percent of Vietnam's 220,000-metric-ton surimi production, increasingly replacing wild-caught itoyori, or threadfin bream, which is in short supply from overfishing.

Pangasius meets a lot of criteria, and new technology invented in the last couple of years has removed some of the hurdles previously associated with use of the fish in the surimi industry, Pascal Guenneugues, founder of surimi supplier and analysis group Future Seafood, tells IntraFish.