Breeding sturgeon, a coldwater fish, in Lam Dong province’s Dam Rong district. (Photo: baolamdong.vn) Lam Dong (VNS/VNA) – Farmers and companies in the Central Highlandsprovince of Lam Dong are earning higher incomes from coldwater fish farming byusing advanced techniques and taking advantage of favourable weatherconditions.
The province has 380ha of coldwater fish farming, up 18ha against 2017,according to the province’s Coldwater Fish Farming Association.
Nguyen Dinh An, association chairman, said that a better fish-fry population,new farming techniques, and improved consumption and production had allcontributed to higher incomes.
A total of 19 companies are participating in farming coldwater fish withinvestment capital of 896 billion VND (38.5 million USD) in the province,according to the association.
In Đam Rong District, five companies and four households, for instance, arefarming sturgeon on a combined area of 3ha with a total annual output of 10tonnes a year.
Each household breeds between 1,000 and 5,000 sturgeons for meat. The farmedsturgeons are mostly Siberian, Russian and hybrid sturgeon species.
To ensure stable water temperatures and enough oxygen, cold water taken from springsis used in farmers' tanks.
Huynh Ngoc Thu, who farms sturgeon in the district, has 22 tanks that producesturgeon fry and sturgeon for meat.
Sturgeon farmed for meat can reach a weight of 1.8-2.5 kilogrammes a fish aftera 12–18 month breeding period, he said.
With a yield of 10-15 kilogrammes per cubic metre a crop, Thu earns a profit of1.2 – 2 million VND.
Traders pay 170,000-180,000 VND for a kilogramme of the fish.
Water temperature and quality are especially critical in sturgeon farming,according to the district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau.
The district, which has favourable cool weather to raise sturgeon, has helpedhouseholds and companies invest in sturgeon raising.
The province expects to produce about 1,250 tonnes of coldwater fish farmed incages, ponds and tanks this year, according to the association.
It also expects to produce about 1,500 kilogrammes of coldwater fish eggs and1.5 million coldwater fish fry this year.
By 2022, it targets producing 2,000 tonnes of coldwater fish a year.
The association will work with agencies to attract investment in coldwater fishfarming and improve the quality of fish species.
Coldwater fish farming must also be environmentally friendly, the associationsaid. – VNS/VNA
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