Mekong Delta needs to produce high-quality tra fish breeds

A farmer in Dong Thap Province feeds tra fish - PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH

CAN THO – Provinces in the Mekong Delta should focus on producing high-quality tra fish breeds to meet the high demand for tra fish export, said seafood experts.

At a meeting yesterday between the Vietnam Institute for Fisheries Economics and Planning (VIFEP) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Thap Province, VIFEP director Nguyen Thanh Tung said the institute was mapping out a plan to produce high-quality tra fish breeds in the delta.

Research institutes, provincial breeding centers and farmers will join the program. Research institutes will study high-quality breeds and supply them for breeding centers and farmers.

The plan can help produce disease-resistant tra fish breeds as a mere 10-15% of the current breeds can be kept alive.

The project will be implemented in two phases, with one lasting from 2018 to 2020 and the other from 2021 to 2025. It will go before the Government in October and come into force from next year, Tung added.

In addition to the breeding center in An Giang Province, the breeding centers in Dong Thap Province and Can Tho City should be upgraded in the 2018-2020 period, according to participants at the meeting.

VIFEP has proposed numerous projects and programs using either State or private capital to help solve difficulties in tra fish breed production.

Le Hoang Vu, director of the Dong Thap Province Fisheries Bureau, said tra fish breeds supplied by the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2 grow well but their disease resistance remains weak.

Huynh Van Mung from Mung Liem Company, a tra fish breed producer with 200 branches in the Mekong Delta, said it is necessary to have a standard and effective breed production process in place.

In 1998, Vietnam exported some 200 tons of tra fish to the U.S and the number soared to 20,000 tons in 2002. At present, annual tra fish shipments to the U.S. amount to US$1.8 billion, accounting for about 25% of the country’s total tra fish exports.

Other major markets for tra fish are China, the European Union (EU) and ASEAN. Vietnam also ships tra fish to more than 100 other countries and territories.