April 17, 2006

 

Vietnam's catfish programme helps farmers meet international standards

 

As seafood consumption in developed countries increase, more consumers are clamoring to know more information about the seafood they are eating. Likewise, regulatory authorities are demanding that the seafood adhere to international standards.

 

In steps the Fresh Water Fish Association's safe catfish programme, launched in 2004 in Can Tho, the biggest city in the Mekong Delta in south Vietnam.

 

In its latest project, the association is planning to set up a catfish farm along 300ha of the Hau River bank, according to Nguyen Van Dan, the chief of Thot Not Seafood station.

 

A core feature of the programme is its emphasis on environmental protection.  Farms are also located away from city centres and industrial areas.

 

The Can Tho fishery department is also establishing fishery branches in various districts to help breeders implement the safe fish programme.

 

The programme teaches farmers how to apply technology and implement fresh water fish breeding to meet the Association's American Safe Food Quality Standard 1,000.

 

One of the requirements of this standard is that information about the origin of the breed, the diet of the fish and the breeding process must be at hand should it be demanded by the customer, said Hai Thanh, a breeder on the Hau River.

 

For this reason, fish breeders are equipped with computers to log the whole breeding process to ensure standards are adhered to.

 

Members are tested at least once every quarter to see if they are correctly following the guidelines.

 

The programme also requires that each fish farm has its own veterinarian.

 

Those who do not follow the association's rules strictly will be excluded from the programme, said Vo Phuoc Hung, Secretary of the General Director of the An Giang Fisheries Joint-stock company (Agrifish).

 

The association expects to produce 50-60,000 tonnes of fresh water fish in 2006.