In 2012, Mr. Tran Van Doan's family moved from Ca Mau province to Dak Ha town (Dak Ha district) to live and develop the economy.
When he came here, he intended to get rich from freshwater fish farming models. With experience in fish farming in his hometown, in 2014, he decided to invest in buying more than 1,000m2 of abandoned land near his house to dig 3 ponds (each pond is more than 300m2) to test raising 20kg (10 fish/kg) of eel fry.
“Although I have experience in fish farming, I was worried when I first started raising eels because at that time in Dak Ha district there was no eel farming model. I was afraid that traders would not buy the fish, and if there was no outlet, there would be no income,” Mr. Doan shared.
After 18 months of raising, the eels grew well, Mr. Doan's family harvested nearly 300 kg of commercial eels, weighing from 1.5 - 2 kg/eel.
At that time, he sold specialty eel for 400,000 - 450,000 VND/kg, earning nearly 100 million VND in profit, 2 - 3 times higher than other freshwater fish.
Just like that, Mr. Tran Van Doan continued to import more breeds to raise in the following years and achieved high efficiency.
With a good source of capital from eel farming, in 2019, Mr. Doan bought 1.5 hectares of ineffective rice farming land in Dak Loi village (Dak Ngok commune) to build a house and dig 5 ponds (5,000m2) to raise eels.
After that, his family stopped raising eels in the 3 old ponds and moved to Dak Loi village to focus on raising eels in 5 new ponds.
Mr. Tran Van Doan, a successful eel farmer in Dak Ha town, has helped more than 20 households in Dak Ha district (Kon Tum province) build ponds and provide technical guidance on eel farming and eel care. Photo: NS.
According to Mr. Doan, eels are easy to raise, rarely get sick, and food is easy to find. Regarding techniques to help eels grow quickly, after digging the pond, you must soak it in water for nearly 20 days, then drain all the old water and pump in new water. After that, use lime powder to treat the water.
The suitable water level for raising eels is about 1.5 - 2m. To limit intestinal diseases, he feeds the fish twice a day and at fixed times.
Currently, Mr. Doan raises more than 1,000 eel fry in each pond. After 8 months, depending on the size, he separates the herd into other ponds.
Eels take about 18-20 months to be harvested. From the time of stocking to harvest, the fish must be transferred to the pond twice. This helps clean the pond bottom and the eels grow quickly.
To have a food source for eels, Mr. Doan bought small fish from households in Dak Ngok commune caught in hydroelectric reservoirs.
Then, he brought it home and put it in the refrigerator at a temperature of -5 to 0 degrees Celsius. Every 2 days, he ground the rice into flour and mixed it with small, chilled, ground fish to make food.
When asked about how to prepare this food, Mr. Doan said: "I prepare this food source to reduce the cost by half compared to existing industrial food.
The eel food I make myself has integrated disease prevention medicine so the eels do not get intestinal or liver diseases; the survival rate is high.
Thanks to ensuring the amount of food and pond standards, the eel population grows well. With 5 ponds, Mr. Doan harvests in rotation, ensuring there are fish to sell regularly.
Currently, he sells over 3 tons of eels each year. Fish weighing 1.5kg or more cost from 500,000 to 550,000 VND/kg.
Raising eels is not afraid of the output, although the price of fish is quite high, but all the output is consumed, most of it is sold to restaurants and hotels in Kon Tum city and Ho Chi Minh City. Thanks to that, each year, Mr. Doan earns a profit of over 1 billion VND, after deducting expenses.
Mr. Doan's eel farming model has opened a new direction for people in Dak Ngok commune in particular and Dak Ha district in general.
From 2019 to present, he has helped more than 20 households in Dak Ha district build ponds, provide technical guidance, select breeds and take care of eels.
To improve economic efficiency, he also cooperates with farming households and each year receives orders to purchase nearly 30 tons of commercial eel, bringing in hundreds of millions of dong in income for families.
Ms. Y Suong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Dak Ngok Commune, Dak Ha District (Kon Tum Province) said: "Currently, many households in the commune have boldly converted their production model to eel farming. A typical example is Mr. Tran Van Doan's family, which earns over 1 billion VND/year.
This model has brought high economic efficiency, creating a stable source of income for many farming households, contributing to promoting the transformation of livestock structure, creating jobs, and increasing income for people. In the coming time, the locality will work with relevant agencies to expand the consumption market, helping people feel secure in investing in the production of this type of fish."
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