Take care like a baby

The National Center for Freshwater Aquatic Breeds of Southern Vietnam under the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.2 is the address for the conservation and conservation of many rare and valuable freshwater fish in the Mekong. Over the years, many rare species of fish have been bred from the Institute’s scientific research and popularized for commercial breeding.

Typically, barramundi, one of the rare and precious fish, is farmed the most and is gradually becoming popular in the Mekong Delta. Besides this, other fish species such as mallet, squirrel tea, et moi, cotton wool, etc. are also being commercially tested by farmers. This reduces the pressure of fishing and regenerates fish stocks in the wild.

Vo Thi Hoa Phung’s family on An Binh Island in Long Ho District of Vinh Long Province has a tradition of raising fish in cages by the river for over twenty years. Over the past 10 years, her family has transitioned to experimental breeding of rare and valuable aquatic species researched by the National Center for Freshwater Aquatic Breeds of the South.

Ms. Phung said that her family has experimented with raising more than 10 kinds of freshwater fish, including: bream, pompano, squirrel tea, squirrel fish, toadfish, carp, common carp, trout and bream that the fish domesticated by Aquaculture Research Institute 2 are a little simpler are to be farmed than imported fish (from Thailand) because the fish can adapt to the climate and aquatic environment in the Mekong Delta.

However, according to Ms. Phung’s family’s experience, each species of fish has a different behavior and level of adaptation to the environment, so the rearing process needs to be closely monitored and cared for like children.

“Teaching fish are extremely difficult to breed and are prone to deformities. If there is no serious breed, it is very easy to make losses, since the fish is not large. The weather is just as important, the cold months should not be stocked with young fish, as the fish hardly eat. After Tet, the warm weather is the best time for the stocking,” Ms. Phung said.

Connection required for stable output

Although rare and precious fish is of very high value and preferred by a small group of consumers, the production of this type of seafood is very limited and restricted to the high-end consumer segment such as restaurants, resorts, first-class hotels, etc. It is heavily relied on by traders dependent. Therefore, the majority of farmers who grow rare and valuable aquatic products, especially freshwater fish listed in the Red Book, have to struggle to find yield for their products.

Unlike the majority, in 2018, instead of sitting at home waiting for merchants to come and buy, Ms. Phung decided to set up a sales channel for Vinh Long Fish on the platform of social networking sites such as Facebook, Zalo, Tiktok, and Youtube . At present, its sales channel Vinh Long Fish enjoys the trust of domestic consumers and orders regularly, tons of products are exported every month.

Thanks to the development of a sales channel, consumers and retailers would also know more about specialties. Not only does she consume all the fish raised in her family’s approximately 40 rafts, but she also buys from many other households that are struggling with production.

Good news is that lately many people like to breed rare and valuable fish for ornamental fish like barnacles, squirrel fish, pompanos… so the market for farmed fish is growing. “I know of cases where people buy tons of coral fish to grow as ornamental plants,” added Ms. Vo Thi Hoa Phung.

Currently, coral fish are bought by size. Traders buy fish from rafts of 2-5kg/fish for 150,000 VND/kg; from 6-8kg is 170,000 VND/kg; 10-13 kg is 250,000 – 270,000 VND/kg; 14-17 kg is 350,000 VND/kg; 18-20 kg is 450,000 VND/kg. Ms. Phung said the bigger the fish, the better the meat and the higher the value.

However, for a long time, farmers will be exposed to unpredictable risks such as B. fluctuating prices, dead fish, not big fish… Specifically, to breed coral fish weighing about 10-13 kg, it takes 5 years, 10-20 kg takes 8 years. Therefore, Ms. Phung believes that in order to be successful in specialty fish farming, farmers must master the techniques and have a market before occupying them.