An Giang Aquaculture: Growing from Tra, Basa Catfish

 
Traditional caged fish rearing has been developed in An Giang for more than 50 years; however, it actually flourished in the 1990s when tra and basa catfish was increasingly exported into the global market. Until then, farmers began focusing on how to keep fish with the highest efficiency and productivity. By June 2006, the aquarium area in the province was 1,164 ha, including over 833 ha for tra catfish rearing. If the output of caged fish was only 48,427 tonnes in 1996, the volume now jumps to 180,890 tonnes.

 

Apart from increasing the productivity and output, Vietnam also has to satisfy safety, hygiene and quality standards. Being aware of the importance of these standards, An Giang has stepped up the application of the SQF standard to aquaculture and processing since 2002. Until know, 19 households of the An Giang Aquatic Product Import-Export Joint Stock Company and the Breeding Research and Production Centre have been awarded the SGS international standards. To sell aquatic products at higher prices, the An Giang fisheries sector is adding more efforts to satisfy all quality, food safety and hygiene requirements, initially the SQF 1000 and SQF 2000 standards that have been applied in 60 countries in the world.

 

In 2000, An Giang fisheries sector had a turning milestone in producing artificial tra and basa catfish. This was a joint effort of the An Giang fisheries sector with French experts. In the 2000 -2005 period, An Giang fisheries sector finished the development of a complete production circle from producing breeding species to processing for export. In the 1990s, An Giang had only one processing factory but now it has 13 factories.

 

The quick development has made fisheries sector the spearhead economic sector of An Giang Province in the 2006-2010 period. The province has decided to invest more than VND100 billion (US$6.25 million) for aquaculture from now until 2010. The freshwater fish reared in the province were only shipped to 30 countries in 2000 but are now shipped to 45. Under the development plan, the fisheries sector needs additional VND820 billion (US$51.25 million) from now until 2010.

 

"In the past 20 years, the Vietnamese economy has grown day after day. The fisheries industry has significantly contributed to the quick growth of the country," Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of the An Giang Department of Fisheries, said. Vietnamese products have penetrated the world market and competed with products of other countries. The aquatic products have brought in large sums of hard foreign currencies. I take pride in my long time working for the fisheries sector."