Vietnamese Catfish
aquaculture improvement partnerships
Vietnamese catfish, also known as “tra”, is on track to become the largest source of whitefish in the world by the end of this decade. We have been discussing with Can Tho University and WWF in the Greater Mekong Region to do water testing in ten farms in the Mekong Delta to measure the water quality of water coming in and leaving the ponds. A visit to Can Tho University and several farms in the province was conducted in September 2007 to better understand tra catfish production in that province.
We expect that 14 months of field work in collaboration with Can Tho University’s College of Aquaculture and Fisheries will commence in early December 2007 to cover at least two croppings of tra. The preliminary results are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2008.
We are also undertaking a preliminary assessment of the likely scale of impacts from all tra catfish farms combined, relative to impacts from other activities in the lower Mekong watershed, such as agriculture.
More information:
- tilapia
- vietnamese catfish
- fisheries for fish meal and fish oil