Raising "giant" fish on the project of the century

Hoa Binh Lake is not only famous for its beautiful landscape, but it also preserves hundreds of species of precious fish and shrimp. While it is rumored that there are many "monsters" of enormous size at the bottom of the lake, on the surface of the water, the cage fish farming industry that has developed over the past decades has also produced fish of "huge" size.

A 30 kg black carp raised on Hoa Binh Lake was auctioned by a business at the opening ceremony of the first Da River Fish and Shrimp Festival in Hoa Binh Province in 2023.

Raising "giant" fish on the largest artificial reservoir in Southeast Asia

Hoa Binh Lake is the largest artificial lake in Southeast Asia. The blocking of the fierce Da River to build the project of the century - Hoa Binh Hydroelectric Plant has created a giant freshwater reservoir with a water surface area of over 8,890 hectares and a capacity of over 9 billion m3 of water. The lake has a very diverse and rich aquatic ecosystem with 123 species belonging to 79 genera and 19 families. Among them are many rare species, of high economic value and significance for scientific research. With a large hydroelectric lake, Hoa Binh is one of the five provinces with the greatest potential in the country for developing reservoir aquaculture. In fact, over the past decades, aquaculture on Hoa Binh Lake has developed strongly, bringing income to about 2,000 households. Da River fish products have been highly appreciated by consumers. In particular, when mentioning Da River fish, consumers are not only impressed by the quality of the product, but also imagine large fish.

Mr. Nguyen Van Manh is a son of Muong land - Thinh Lang ward (Hoa Binh city). His childhood was attached to the Da River, especially the times he went to the river to fish. Mr. Manh once witnessed his father and grandfather catching fish weighing tens of kilograms from the Da River. Those were black carp, catfish weighing up to tens of kilograms with a rugged appearance like a log, or carp, catfish, and bighead carp with huge sizes. However, at the end of October 2023, Mr. Manh and many people could not take their eyes off when they "witnessed" the black carp and red-tailed catfish weighing 30 kg and 20 kg respectively. These two giant fish were brought to auction by two long-standing aquaculture enterprises on the Hoa Binh Hydropower Reservoir at the opening ceremony of the first Da River Fish and Shrimp Festival in Hoa Binh province.

The auction of two giant fish was exciting, attracting many people and businesses to participate. At the end of the auction, a 30 kg black carp of Hai Dang HB Seafood Company Limited was purchased by a business in Hanoi for 65 million VND. A 20 kg red-tailed catfish of Cuong Thinh Construction and Service Company Limited was sold for 50 million VND. "Black carp weighing 5 - 10 kg or perch, common carp, and catfish raised on Hoa Binh Lake are sold a lot in the market every day. But with a red-tailed catfish weighing up to 20 kg, a 30 kg black carp like this, these are truly the biggest fish I have ever seen with my own eyes," Mr. Manh shared.

The family of Mr. Nguyen Van Chuc, Bich Tru hamlet, Hoa Binh commune (Hoa Binh city) is one of about 2,000 households that have been involved in cage fish farming for decades on Hoa Binh lake. Currently, his family maintains 16 fish cages, supplying the market with about 4 tons of fish each year. In 2023 alone, Mr. Chuc sold more than 4 tons of fish to the market. Mr. Chuc shared that in his decades of being involved with Hoa Binh lake, he has many times "encountered" giant fish in the wild. From developing cage fish farming, Mr. Chuc himself has owned giant fish. That is a black carp raised for more than 3 years weighing 12 kg or a catfish weighing 8 kg. In addition, there are tilapia and carp that he compares to having the width of a wild banana leaf. "For black carp, after 2 years of farming, they can be sold at a weight of 7 - 8 kg; the same goes for catfish, after the same farming time, they only weigh 2 - 3 kg. My family and other farming households mostly feed them with grass, corn, and cassava because if they feed them with bran, the cost is very high, and they are at a loss," Mr. Chuc emphasized.

Building the brand of Da River fish and shrimp

With stable development of cage fish farming, Hoa Binh annually supplies thousands of tons of fish to the market. In the agricultural sector, aquaculture contributes a relatively high proportion to the growth of the industry, mainly cage fish farming on the Hoa Binh hydroelectric reservoir. According to Mr. Hoang Van Son, Head of the Department of Fisheries, the whole province currently has nearly 2,700 hectares of water surface for aquaculture, with 4,987 fish cages, producing 9,750 tons. Over the past 2 years, cage fish farming has developed quite stably with favorable output. In particular, after the first Da River Fish and Shrimp Festival in Hoa Binh province was held, the connection and consumption of Da River fish products have become increasingly favorable. The certification of the trademarks "Da River Fish - Hoa Binh" and "Da River Shrimp - Hoa Binh" by the Intellectual Property Office has created conditions for developing production, expanding consumption markets, increasing product value, and targeting export markets.

In addition to households, on Hoa Binh hydroelectric lake, there are a number of enterprises inside and outside the province investing in building advanced cage farming systems, intensive and semi-intensive farming of some specialty fish species. Notably, there are 2 enterprises raising fish in cages and rafts on Hoa Binh lake combined with processing. That is Cuong Thinh Construction and Service Company Limited, with products of Da River tilapia fillet and catfish fillet. Of which, Da River tilapia fillet product was certified with 4-star OCOP in 2019. In addition, Hai Dang HB Seafood Company Limited has processed black carp, yellow catfish and black catfish flounder products. These products were also certified with 4-star OCOP in 2020.

On Hoa Binh hydroelectric lake, there are currently thousands of cages raising special fish species of the Da River.

Last year, at the National Conference on Reservoir Aquaculture Development organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hoa Binh City, the leaders of Hai Dang HB Seafood Company Limited shared their efforts in building the brand of clean fish in the Da River. Accordingly, the company has invested in raising over 200 fish cages and linked up with 7 members to establish the Bay Tuyen Clean Fish Cooperative. During the production process, the Cooperative has raised fish according to the VietGAP process to aim for clean products, putting quality first. In the breeding process, the fish fry are raised entirely with quality nutritional bran, with clear origin from reputable animal feed suppliers. When the fish reach a weight of 1 kg or more, the diet will have 80% natural fish such as: oil shrimp, ditch fish. In addition, the fish will be supplemented with nutrients such as vitamin C, minerals, multivitamins and especially garlic yeast to prevent pathogens.

With clean water sources and the efforts of people and businesses in aquaculture, it is a favorable condition to create clean, high-quality fish and shrimp products. In addition, Hoa Binh also focuses on developing aquaculture combined with tourism. Taking a boat on Hoa Binh hydroelectric lake, you can admire the majestic mountain and river scenery, visit spiritual tourist attractions, community tourism villages, and then visit the decades-old cage fish farming with "giant" fish. That will be an interesting experience for visitors when coming to Hoa Binh lake, the largest artificial reservoir in Southeast Asia.

Written by Dao

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