Ho Chi Minh City, Feb. 5 -- Vietnam's seafood exports reached an estimated 874 million USD in January, marking a 13% year-on-year increase, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The result reflects efforts by seafood enterprises to maintain early-year order momentum amid continued pressure from technical barriers and tariff-related factors in several major markets.

Growth in the first month of this year was driven mainly by Asian markets, particularly China, Japan and ASEAN, and by strong performance in key product groups such as pangasius and squid, octopus.

In contrast, exports to the US declined noticeably, especially for tuna, due to the impact of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) an...