Spiny loach, also known as river loach, has long been grown in the Hoa Binh lake or in rivers and streams. This is a freshwater fish with a dark green or gray-black body, with many round or oval yellow spots on the body; the dorsal fin, anal fin and pectoral fin have small black spots, no pelvic fin. When young, the main food of loach is worms, larvae, insects, small crustaceans. When grown, the fish eats adult insects, shrimp, small fish and organic debris. This is a specialty fish with high economic value.
Mr. Tran Hung Cuong, Voi hamlet, Thai Binh ward, Hoa Binh city successfully raised spiny loach in Hoa Binh lake.
In recent years, due to indiscriminate fishing and exploitation by electricity, this fish species has become increasingly rare in nature and is at risk of extinction. The price of caught fish on the market is quite high, large, rare fish can even cost millions of VND/kg. In the Hoa Binh reservoir area, many fish species have been developed, but almost no spiny loach has been raised in cages. Many people think that the cold climate in the North is not suitable for raising spiny loach in cages. Since 2019, Mr. Tran Hung Cuong, Voi group, Thai Binh ward, Hoa Binh city has been experimenting with raising spiny loach in cages in the reservoir. He is an aquaculture engineer, in addition to the knowledge he learned, he traveled to Long An to learn how to raise spiny loach in lagoons, ponds, and lakes. With practical experience, he decided to buy 2,000 fry to raise.
Knowing the characteristics of fish that live in caves, Mr. Cuong used perforated plastic tanks to raise them in rafts. The initial food for small fish was shrimp, minced small fish and put them in a tray with a net in the plastic tank. Being a native fish species in the lake area, after a period of raising, the fish grew well, grew quickly, and had no diseases. Mr. Cuong said: This fish species is very strong, has few diseases, and can adapt to many living environments, but is most suitable for places with flowing water and high dissolved oxygen content, so creating a natural environment is very good for fish to develop. With a dense farming population, it is necessary to create a lot of dissolved oxygen for the water. However, at the beginning of the rainy season, due to the erratic water flow, the early season water has many toxins flowing into the lake, so the fish are aerated. After that, he decided to cut 60 and 90mm plastic pipes into bundles suspended about 1m above the water surface for the fish to take refuge.
In response to Mr. Cuong's initial successes, in April 2023, the provincial Department of Fisheries supported 70% of the investment for 3 households in Binh Thanh commune (Cao Phong) to raise 6,000 fish fry, 2.8 tons of bran and sterilizing pellets. In addition, technical training was supported. To date, the survival rate of fish has reached 80%, weighing from 350 - 500g/fish; total output is about 1.6 tons of fish, the cost price is from 360,000 - 400,000 VND/kg.
Comrade Hoang Van Son, Head of the provincial Fisheries Department, said: The spiny loach has high commercial value, is nutritious, and is favored by the market. Successfully raising this fish breed in a cage environment is a new direction for people in the Hoa Binh reservoir area to develop the economy, eliminate hunger, and reduce poverty.
Viet Lam
Source
Comment (0)