July 7, 2008

Vietnam scientists breed extinct Mekong fish species

Dr Pham Van Khanh, director of the centre, which is based in the delta province of Tien Giang, said they have successfully bred more than 20 species of ho (Catlocarpio siamensis) and ca coc (cyclocheilichthys enoplos) after six years of study. 

He said the centre's scientists had to go to the Tien and Hau rivers, two Mekong distributaries, to buy the species from local fishermen.

Huynh Huu Ngai, who heads the ho fish breeding, said they had to go to to An Giang, Vinh Long and Dong Thap provinces to find ho or "giant barb" when the project commenced in 2003.

In June 2005, Ngai and his team successfully hatched the first ho by artificial means, with a success rate of 13 percent.

The rate now reaches 40 percent, he said.

The ho fish lives mainly in the lower Mekong basin in Vietnam and Cambodia, but population has declined sharply due to overfishing.

Ngai said since April 2002, caught ho fishes do not weigh more than 150kg in the delta. The fully-grown ho fish reaches 300-400 kilogrammes.

The centre now has 84 breeding pairs of ho, with the largest weighing 25kg.

The centre has supplied more than 10,000 ho fry to farmers in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces and to an aquaculture company in Ho Chi Minh City.

It annually supplies around 20 million other fish species to farmers, including the rare ca et moi (Morulius chrysophekadion) and ca chai (Leptobarbus hoevenii).

The centre is also one of the leaders in artificial propagation of catfish like tra and basa, which are now bred in the delta in large quantities for export.