Taking full advantage of the Ngàn Trươi hydroelectric reservoir, farmers in Vu Quang district have been investing into various fish cage farming methods which have represented solid achievements.
The Vũ Quang district of Hà Tĩnh province owns the third largest lake of the country, Ngàn Trươi, and 30 small lakes and dams where the environment is carefully protected and local farmers have achieved success from fish cage farming. The Vũ Quang agro-forestry-fishery service cooperative is an icon that stocked the very first fish fries in 14 cages located in the Ngàn Trươi reservoir in October 2020. This is a trial of fish cage farming in this reservoir which is funded more than 1.3 billion VND with nearly 300 million dong contributed by the People’s Committee of Vũ Quang district.
Sardines, freshwater shark, carp and crispy carp were stocked in cages of 100m3 with frames being made of HDPE pipes and surrounded by PE mesh which is fixed by 1m high steel frame.
Director of the Vũ Quang agro-forestry-fishery service cooperative Nguyễn Quốc Cường said that despite a trial, it brought about good results. After 7 months, sardines and freshwater sharks weighed up to 1.5-2kg/pc with survival rate of 75% while crispy carp and carp reached 4-4.5 kg/pc with survival rate of 98%. This method represents solid achievements with an estimated yield of 25 tons and revenue of 2.3 billion dong, from which a worth of 1 billion dong profit may be earned after cost of fish fries, labor and a part of cage investment.
Besides trying fish cage farming methods in the Ngàn Trươi reservoir, farmers in Vũ Quang district have installed cages to rear carp and crispy carp in local small dams and lakes.
In 2020, farmer Nguyễn Xuân Hiệu in Hương Minh commune poured more than 200 million dong in 3 cages for freshwater shark farming and 3 cages for carp. Those cages are installed on the surface water of the Khe Thuộc dam of Hương Minh commune where the source of water is always clean and unpolluted, facilitating fishes to weigh up fast. Thus, freshwater shark and carp can be harvested after 6-8 months.
In Hiệu’s opinion, a cage of 140m3 can contain about 500 carp fries or 1,000-1,200 freshwater shark fries that can weigh up to 1.5-2kg each after 6-8 months. Such a cage can make 20-25 million dong profit after cost of feed and labor.
According to the People’s Committee of Vũ Quang district, besides the Ngàn Trươi reservoir, the district has 30 small lakes and dams with more than 100ha of surface water area. The experiment of rearing freshwater fish in the Ngàn Trươi reservoir and other small lakes and dams has represented high economic efficiency. This is considered a potential and strength for the Vũ Quang district to expand and develop freshwater fish farming in the future.
VFM
