PRODUCT >> PANGASIUS [FISH]

What are farming techniques of Pangasius in Mekong River Delta in Vietnam?

In Mekong River Delta in Vietnam, there are three main farming techniques: intensive pond, floating cage and net-pen enclosure farming.

Floating cages:

The cages are made from steel or wood, and have two parts: the under-water part and the floating part. The cages is anchored at a certain place in the river by 14 tholes planted deeply into boom of the river. The floating part is handled at the surface of water by the system of many plastic tubes along the cages. Thank to the constant stream of the mekong river, fish farming in cages enjoys favourable natural condition, with white meat meeting high standards. Floating fish village is the farming area established by thousands of fish farming cages.

Pond farming:

The depth of pond must be at least 3 metres; regularly change water and clean the pond. Farming fish in ponds has some advantages: it is easy to control the pond’s environment, cost effectiveness, and high production. However, attention need to be put on water quality and environment control.

Net enclosure:

Net enclosure (or “Dang quang” in Vietnamese) is a farming area that has been separated in the river by fences, located near the river bank, so that the river flows still run through the net. This way of farming is relatively new and allows to stock higher density, as well as harvest very good fish.

Among which, pond farming gives highest production, while cage farming and net-pen enclosure farming give better flavour of fish.

Farming density:

	Stocking density	Average yield
Pond and Net-pen enclosure	60 - 120 fish/m2	170 - 250 MT/ha/crop
Floating cages	100-150 fish/m3	70 kg/m3

Advanced Farms Standards are widely applied in farming: SQF1000CM, BAP and GAP.

Since 1940-1950: farming in small farms mainly in An Giang, Dong Thap (wild-caught fingerlings).

 Since 1981-1982: Trial of intensive farming in small pond (wild-caught fingerlings).

Since 1996-1999: intensive farming in pond and cage (wild-caught and artificial fingerlings).

Since 2001-2004: Develop farming in cage and pond with change from self processed feed to industrial feed (artificial fingerlings).

Since 2005 so far: switch from cage farming, net enclosure to super-intensive farming pond (artificial fingerlings).

Now, Vietnam fish farmers raise fish in system of advanced farming ponds which meet requirements of SQF 1000 CM (food safety and quality) as well as international standards and strict demand of consumers such as Global GAP, ASC, BAP...