Background

Catfish farming in the Mekong Delta, the bulk of which is still undertaken by relatively small-scale producers, is one of the largest freshwater aquaculture industries in the world. The sector has already reached the forecast for 2010 of a production of 1 million tonnes with export value of 1 billion US$. Current farming practices need to be improved in many fronts and issues of environmental integrity addressed to ensure the industry continues to develop in a sustainable manner.

Objectives

The project aims to develop and facilitate adoption of better management practices (BMPs) for catfish farming that will increase the profitability and environmental performance of farmers through more efficient use of resources. This will reduce farmer's risk profile and environmental impact and contribute to the wider sustainability of the industry as a whole.

Expected Outputs

• An assessment of the current status of the catfish culture of the Mekong Delta, including husbandry, broodstock management in hatcheries and grow-out practices (in ponds) reviewed and documented.
• Development of BMPs for catfish farming in Mekong Delta including guidelines for hatchery (husbandry and broodstock management) and grow-out (health, feeds and feedings) developed.
• Skills-based training in Vietnam, Australia and Thailand to facilitate implementation of BMPs and associated practice change in fish farming in the Mekong Delta.
• Dissemination and implementation of BMPs to farmers and other stakeholders in the Mekong Delta.

Progress

• The first meeting of the project was held in Can Tho University, Vietnam, on 29 January 2008. Project partners held initial discussions with farmer and processor groups and developed a work plan for the project. The first major activity will be to carry out a detailed survey of hatcheries, farms and processors to identify key issues where development of better management practices may benefit the industry. The survey will be conducted in the first half of 2008.
• The project team visited the Mekong Delta in May 2008 to field test and adjust questionnaires that will be used in a comprehensive survey of management practices in the catfish sector, including hatchery, nursery and growout.
• A group of Vietnamese catfish farmers, extension officers and researchers from Can Tho University travelled to Andhra Pradesh, India from 27 May to 3 June 2009. The purpose was to permit the Vietnamese group to discuss the functioning of small scale farmer associations and collaborative implementation of better management practices undertaken by their Indian counterparts. Participants concluded there is a need to establish similar cluster-based management approaches for small scale farmers in Vietnam, and to establish better management practices for catfish industry.
• A draft document on Better Management Practices for Striped Catfish (tra catfish) Farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam has been developed based on a detailed survey of 97 farms undertaken by the project. The draft BMPs were discussed and revised by two stakeholder meetings, 5-6 and 8-9 October 2009 in Dong Thap and Can Tho provinces respectively. Version 2 of the draft BMPs is available for download.
• Farm trials of the draft BMPs have commenced in several provinces to evaluate and demonstrate their effectiveness.
• A summary of the discussions is also available for download in Catch and Culture, the Quarterly publication of the Mekong River Commission (Volume 15, No. 3 ISSN 0859-290X December 2009).
• Farm trials of the draft BMPs commenced in several provinces to evaluate and demonstrate their effectiveness. BMP demonstration trials were undertaken on 11 farms collectively within four provinces of the Mekong Delta (An Giang, Can Tho, Dong Thap and Vinh Long) for purposes of demonstrating and evaluating draft BMPs in advance of the proposed national BMP workshop in November 2010.
• Project evaluation of BMP demonstration trials has been completed by the project team in collaboration with the Melbourne University Department of Geography and Resource Management from 10 June – 2 July 2010.
• A national catfish BMP workshop is scheduled for 23-24 November 2010 in Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province, Vietnam, whick will include representation from across all farming and processing sectors within the Mekong Delta as well as representative national and provincial government personnel and farmer associations.

Publications

• Better management practices for Vietnamese catfish (article from Aquaculture Asia Magazine).
• Short video of catfish feeding in the Mekong Delta.
• Current status of farming practices of striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypopthalmus in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam (published in Aquaculture).
• Two extension posters on better management practices for catfish farming have been published in Vietnamese language (BMP1, BMP2).
• Draft Better Management Practices (BMPs) for Striped Catfish (tra catfish) Farming Practices in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam (Version 2).
• Bui, Tam M., Phan, Lam T., Ingram, B.A., Nguyen, Thuy T.T., Gooley, G. J., Nguyen, Hao V., Nguyen Phuong V., De Silva, S.S., (2010). Seed production practices of striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam. Aquaculture 306: 92–100
• De Silva, S.S., Ingram, B.A., Phuong T. Nguyen, Bui Tam T., Gooley, G.J., Turchini, G.M., (2010). Estimation of nitrogen and phosphorus in effluent from the striped catfish farming sector in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Ambio (in press).
• Mohan, C.V. (2010). Better Management Practices (BMPs) - gateway to ensuring sustainability of small scale aquaculture and meeting modern day market challenges and opportunities Aquaculture Asia Magazine 15(1): 9-14.
• A poster has been prepared on the above theme for presentation at the Global Conference on aquaculture, Phuket, 22-25th September 2010.

Collaborating Agencies

The project is being jointly implemented by:

• Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2, Viet Nam.
• College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University, Viet Nam.
• Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia.
• Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific.

Funding Agency

Funding for the project is provided by the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development Programme of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).