November 5, 2007

Catfish farmers in Mekong Delta urged to restructure breeding methods

The Vietnam Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has urged catfish farmers in Mekong Delta provinces to readjust its breeding strategies to ensure sustainable development and environmental protection of the country's aquaculture.

Deputy Minister Luong Le Phuong made the appeal in response to the recent boom of "tra" and "basa" farms and expanding processing facilities in the region.

The deputy minister also asked localities to stop the expansion of fish breeding centres and the suspend licenses for catfish processing projects.

Recently, the catfish raising acreage in nine Mekong Delta provinces expanded to more than 3,600 hectares, with annual output of between 50 to 80 tonnes per hectare.

According to the ministry, in the first half of this year, the country produced 400,000 tonnes of tra and basa, a 100 percent increase over the same period last year.

The ministry also added that in the first ten months of this year, Vietnam earned US$3 billion from seafood exports, fulfilling 85 percent of the yearly target and representing a year-on-year increase of 10.8 percent.