The giant catfish, a specialty fish that swims in large rivers, is now successfully raised in earthen ponds in Ben Tre, selling for 150,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Le Hong Phuong, born in 1975, in Hamlet 6, Binh Thang Commune, Binh Dai District ( Ben Tre Province), is a successful pioneer with the idea of ​​converting from 2-stage white-leg shrimp farming to natural commercial catfish farming for many consecutive years with a net profit of over 1 billion VND/year.

Profit of over 1 billion VND/year from the model of raising specialty fish - silver pomfret

Mr. Le Hong Phuong shared: “In 2014, the shrimp farming process encountered many difficulties and the profits were not high, so I researched and found out the economic benefits from the catfish, from which I came up with the idea of ​​domesticating and raising catfish commercially.

Initially, I used 1,200 square meters of renovated shrimp pond lined with tarpaulin and tried to raise a few hundred young catfish bought from fishing boats and ships on large rivers.

After 20 months of raising, the catfish grew well and reached a weight of over 2kg/fish, sold for over 150,000 VND/kg and brought in quite a high profit.

From the initial profits, Mr. Phuong invested in renovating and expanding 6 shrimp ponds with a total area of ​​20,000m2 and switched to commercial catfish farming.

He applies the rotational farming method to ensure economic benefits during the year, with 60 thousand baby catfish, the total harvest reaches 45 tons. In particular, he specially sets aside a pond of about 1,000m2 to domesticate baby catfish, after 7 days release them into the earthen pond.

The stocking density for the catfish has a high survival rate and an average yield of 3 fish/m2. Over the years, Mr. Phuong has maintained and effectively developed the total area for commercial catfish farming, with an annual income of more than 1 billion VND after deducting expenses.

Harvesting commercial catfish at the household of Mr. Le Hong Phuong, farmer in Hamlet 6, Binh Thang Commune, Binh Dai District (Ben Tre Province).

With accumulated experience, Mr. Phuong said: "Bong lau fish is a new farming species, has high economic value, the source of breed is available in nature, the farming technique is also quite simple, similar to catfish, high disease resistance.

The young catfish appear every year from August to November of the lunar calendar. This is also the time when he starts to buy the young fish to domesticate and raise.

Raising silver pomfret fish is also quite simple, mainly concerned with the feeding regime, the pond must be 3m deep and clean, airy, and have fans running regularly to create oxygen because this is a type of fish that lives in the wild and likes deep water flows.

In order to ensure the diet of the catfish, and not let the food drift ashore or be left over, he came up with the idea of ​​using a circular plastic tube to float on a part of the pond area and drop the food in there. Every day, he feeds the fish twice a day at 6am and 6pm.

Currently, Mr. Phuong has 10,000m2 of ponds raising commercial catfish in the harvest period, reaching a weight of over 2kg/fish after 20 months of farming, and the remaining 10,000m2 have only been farmed for 12 months, currently the fish weigh about 800 grams to 1kg/fish.

Replicating the model of raising silver pomfret fish

Seeing the practical effectiveness of Mr. Phuong's conversion from 2-stage shrimp farming to commercial catfish farming, many shrimp farming households in the hamlet have learned the farming techniques and successfully converted to commercial catfish farming, bringing high economic efficiency.

A typical example is Mr. Le Huu Duc, in Hamlet 6 of the commune, who has successfully converted 13,000m2 of industrial shrimp farming ponds to commercial catfish farming for more than 5 years now.

Mr. Duc shared: “In 2019, after a period of raising shrimp in two stages without high profits, I learned the techniques and raised silver pomfret fish from Mr. Phuong. Mr. Phuong supported me in finding the breed and how to domesticate the breed before releasing them into the natural pond and up to now I have done it myself and brought high efficiency, earning a stable profit of over 400 million VND/crop”.

Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Binh Thang Commune, Nguyen Hong Khanh, said: "With the benefits brought about by many years of commercial catfish farming, in April 2024, the Farmers' Association of Binh Thang Commune (Binh Dai District, Ben Tre Province) mobilized and gathered households to convert from industrial shrimp farming to commercial catfish farming.

The Association has established a Cooperative Group for raising catfish consisting of 7 members, with a total farming area of ​​over 93.6 hectares with the goal of developing and expanding the commercial catfish farming area in the commune.

Currently, the model of raising silver pomfret fish has been replicated in 12 households in the commune, most of which are households converted from shrimp farming, the largest household has an area of ​​20,000m2 and the smallest household has 5,000m2.

It can be seen that, in the conditions of adapting to climate change and restructuring agriculture , investing in commercial catfish farming is considered a suitable model to help farmers increase their income, contributing to the development of local socio-economy.

Source: https://danviet.vn/ca-bong-lau-ca-dac-san-boi-song-lon-nay-nuoi-thanh-cong-o-ao-dat-tai-ben-tre-ban-150000-dongkg-20240901004307223.htm