Cross Con Tien bridge, turn left and follow Provincial Road 957, looking down at the Chau Doc river with red alluvial water.
During the flood season, the pangasius fish are bathed in the cool alluvial stream and grow rapidly. I met Mr. Van (64 years old, living in Da Phuoc town, An Phu district, An Giang province) watching a composite boat full of food.
Every time the workers spread food, the fish swarm to eat the bait, splashing water everywhere, it's a fascinating sight!
Recalling the golden age of pangasius farming, Mr. Van said that in the past, the An Phu and Chau Doc upstream areas were the places where pangasius farming was "conceived", creating a famous brand.
During flood years, people on Chau Doc and Hau rivers go to the river to set the bottom to harvest catfish fry and bring them to the hatchery.
“Back then, there was no pellet food like today. Fishermen brought fine bran to the bunker and spread it, and the young fish came up to “eat the nails” of the stewed candy. The young catfish, the size of incense sticks, were carefully raised,” Mr. Van recalled.
Fishermen at the headwaters of the Hau River in An Phu district, An Giang province, densely raise commercial tra fish during the flood season.
Catfish grow very quickly, within 10 days they are as big as chopsticks. When the catfish are as big as a big toe, fishermen use bran mixed with chopped water spinach, banana trees or duckweed bran to feed the fish.
Many families take advantage of the flood season to harvest linh fish and miscellaneous fish as food, supplementing nutrition for the tra fish.
In the past, wild pangasius was domesticated in ponds, stews, and fed homemade food. It had delicious, nutritious meat, but was only consumed at wholesale markets or dried and sold domestically.
The good news spread far and wide, and gradually, this catfish became famous and became an export commodity to many countries around the world. In the 90s of the last century, tra fish was only a few thousand VND/kg, then suddenly increased to 18,000 VND/kg. Fishermen rushed to build rafts, dig ponds to expand the area for commercial tra fish farming to get rich.
There was a time when fishermen went all the way to Cambodia to buy wood to build rafts. From there, famous raft villages were formed in the upstream of Chau Doc and An Phu. Unexpectedly, in 2000, the price of tra fish dropped from 18,000 VND/kg to 10,000 VND/kg, making fishermen miserable.
A series of wooden rafts cost hundreds of millions of dong to invest in, but with no capital left to reinvest in livestock farming, fishermen dismantled the rafts and switched to other jobs.
“Back then, I and many fishermen in the village bought wood to build rafts to raise catfish. At first, the farming was very effective, because the company favored white fish meat and sold it at a high price.
But then, the price of pangasius raised in ponds and rafts both dropped. The market was unstable, some people pulled their rafts ashore, others left their ponds empty, and the pangasius farming industry declined sharply…” - Mr. Van said.
Many people have given up raising catfish, but Mr. Van is determined to stick with this traditional profession. For a while, Mr. Van raised fish at a good price, then continued to invest in expanding his pond until now.
Currently, Mr. Van raises 3 pangasius ponds, with an area of over 7,000m2 /pond, each harvest yields 300 - 400 tons of commercial pangasius.
Mr. Van is currently one of the remaining "veteran" fishermen with a famous commercial tra fish farming profession in the upstream area.
Standing watching the catfish splashing water and biting bait, we admired Mr. Van's farming techniques and his magnificent career.
All ponds are solidly reinforced with concrete, and the water pumping system uses electric motors.
Having experience in raising pangasius, Mr. Van is very confident when it comes to techniques, from selecting, breeding to raising and selling fish.
“Many people have failed in raising fish. Personally, I have experience in treating common diseases of pangasius, such as: pus liver, fungus, red tail, hemorrhage, etc.
It is important to treat clean water and monitor the fish daily. If you are negligent, the fish will get sick, lose their heads, and lead to heavy losses," said Mr. Van.
Sitting next to his spacious house, Mr. Van said that he had to go through hardships to become successful like today.
Previously, he wanted to give up, but thanks to his perseverance in this profession, Mr. Van became rich, then invested in expanding the area of ponds and pits so that his children could have a stable life in the future. Currently, the price of pangasius fish fluctuates over 27,000 VND/kg (white meat type), Mr. Van has not sold it yet.
“The tra fish market is waiting for the price, so we have to wait a few more months to sell. But the current concern for fish farmers is that the price of feed and veterinary medicine in aquaculture is high. Therefore, the cost of raising fish has increased many times, while the price of tra fish has not increased, farmers are at risk of losing money,” said Mr. Van.
In the coming time, to maintain sustainable pangasius farming, in addition to applying techniques and understanding market demand, Mr. Van will recalculate the feed processing stage to make it most effective.
Feed for pangasius fish fluctuates around 12,900 VND/kg. If you raise 1kg of pangasius fish, you will spend at least 1.7kg of feed. After deducting other costs such as electricity, labor, aquatic medicine, etc., the farmer will not make a profit.
Therefore, in the next farming season, Mr. Van will cook bran, soybeans, and sea fish to make homemade feed for tra fish to reduce costs and lower farming prices to make a profit.
Source: https://danviet.vn/mua-nuoc-do-dau-nguon-song-hau-o-an-giang-dan-nuoi-day-dac-thu-ca-gi-toan-con-to-bu-20240830112926655.htm
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