Aquaculture in Asia-Pacific / January update

Disclaimer: This is not an extensive review of aquaculture in each country, this is a digest of the news about aquaculture in Asia released on Internet this month. The validity of any information or figures quoted is the responsibility of the individual newspapers and websites concerned. Also, please check previous updates: August 2009, September 2009, October 2009, November 2009, December 2009.

This page is updated irregularly but frequently. To easily monitor changes, you can use this firefox extension: Update Scanner

Brunei

• Fish farming crabs a big business

Fished out fresh not from ponds or the sea, the high-meat content soft shell crabs can be reared by anyone without hectares of farmland or sea farm. Produced in cabinets, the farming method is fully organic, meaning there is not a drop of chemical used. Industry sources told the Bulletin that the Sultanate imports 50 per cent of its crab needs, 40 per cent from wild catches and 10 per cent from pond farms. Golden Crabs Enterprise, the first local firm to produce soft shell crabs, started its operations last August. The firm’s managing director said the company wants to develop the production of soft shell crab as a public programme to improve the economy of any family. Golden Crab Enterprise said it will supply the technology to the public to rear the high-meat content crabs in order to raise local production to meet local demands and export potential. The local producer can then either firm a contract with Golden Crab Enterprise, or buy the special cabinet-like set and placed them under the care of Golden Crab Enterprise at its farm sites [6].

China

• Sturgeon farms cleared from Three Gorges Dam area for navigation safety

Sturgeon farmers in the Three Gorges area of China's Yangtze River are dismantling their sturgeon tanks in order to keep navigation channels safe and clear. More than 180 households in Zigui County, in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam, have dismantled 75 percent of the 7,509 tanks, the basic facility to raise fish in the offshore water areas in the river, over which the dam was built. Prices for a certain type of caviar made of sturgeon spawn hit up to 14,000 yuan (2,050 U.S. dollars) per kilogram on the domestic market, about 200 times the price of sturgeon meat, said Liu Wenlong, one of the largest fish raisers in the county. The central government issued an order in December 2008 to ban aquafarms around the dam area after finding the business posed a threat to navigation safety and contaminated part of the river [29].

Fiji

• Inmate succeed in growing Tilapia

The Nasinu Reformative Centre is home to 78 inmates that include young offenders between 18-24 years, former police and military offenders, and first offenders. It is the only centre that has three fish ponds that are harvested every six months, specifically to cut costs on food expenses and supplement food rations for the local prisons. It recently produced the biggest harvest to provide a week's meals for more than 300 prisoners. One pond was harvested, and hundreds of Tilapia (Maleya) weighing 242 kilograms were collected. Tilapia is bred with organic food including leftovers from the prison kitchen. Feeding is done once a day with a measure of leftovers scattered over the ponds. Inmate Josefa Lalanaisu, 25 of Naitasiri was given the task of maintaining three fish ponds at the centre [23].

French Polynesia

• Rehabilitation of nuclear test atoll

After 46 nuclear tests conducted in the open air between 1966 and 1974, and 147 underground tests conducted between 1975 and 1996, the Hao atoll, located in French Polynesia (Tuamotu Archipelago), will be rehabilitated. As a matter of fact, unlike Mururoa, this laboratory of the French atomic bomb, is still occupied by the local population whose lifestyle has been disrupted by military activity. Nuclear facilities, often dismantled by the people to build houses, have become an important source of waste on Hao (concrete, but also metal and abandoned vehicles). For the cleaning, France will provide 38 military staff. Goal of the Department of Defense: make the atoll "a model of sustainable development". It is also planned to develop fisheries, agriculture and aquaculture [18].

• The Aquaculture Technical Center, a tool to develop the local economy

On Tuesday January 26th, Polynesian Minister of Marine Resources, Temauri Foster, visited IFREMER's center at Vairao, and discussed the project of the Aquaculture Technical Center (ATC) due to start next February 15. This new center should help to develop the aquaculture sector so that it becomes a significant resource in Polynesia. He also talked about the progress of ongoing research, on "Paraha peue" (batfish), on the pearl oysters and shrimp. A "Paraha peue" project will begin in May in Bora Bora. Initially, its aim is to reach 40 to 50 tons of fish per year, but is said to have a potential of nearly 120 tons per year. It will take about a year before its first production. The ATC infrastructure should provide a versatile production tool, allowing to develop the aquaculture industry in French Polynesia. It will include, inter alia, shrimp and "Paraha peue" hatcheries. It is funded under the special investment fund for $ 534 million F CFP. The CTA should be shipped in February 2011 [28].

India

• The Aquaculture Authority

The Aquaculture Authority was set up to promote shrimp aquaculture and to regulate the construction of the shrimp aquaculture farms in the coastal region. The Aquaculture Authority comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and the headquarters being in Chennai. It has the powers to regulate the construction of shrimp aquaculture in the coastal regions. It also makes sure that certain types of lands are not used for aquaculture farming. That includes public lands, forest lands, mangroves, wet lands, salt pan lands, and agricultural lands. The Aquaculture Authority adopts the Polluter Pays Principle and the Precautionary Principle. It also frames schemes with the consultation from other bodies like State Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board, and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute. It ensures that the people employed in the aquaculture farming are compensated properly. It also deals with any other issues that arise out of shrimp culture farming in the coastal regions [24].

Malaysia

• Local catfish fighting with African breed for survival

The local freshwater walking catfish or keli kayu, a favourite among Malaysians, may soon be a thing of the past if nothing is done to conserve the fish. Malaysian Zoological Society ecologist Herman Bernard Ganapathy said the catfish (Clarias batrachus), used to be commonly found but now could only be located in remote villages. The local catfish is usually found in swampy areas, lowland rivers, padi fields and mining pools, but since the introduction of the African catfish, its population has dwindled. The Fisheries Department gave farmers the African catfish and tilapia fish to breed, both highly ferocious eaters, instead of local fish, because it was hardier and bigger than the local breed and was more viable commercially [8].

Pacific region

• Tilapia: Fish of the future for Pacific aquaculture?

Representatives from the Pacific heard from international experts that fish farming of tilapia has reached incredible levels approaching 3 million tons and $5 billion in sales annually worldwide. The statement was made at a meeting in Noumea organized by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community's Aquaculture Program. But tilapia output from the Pacific region is negligible. In 2007, the region harvested only around 300 tons of farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), mostly from Fiji. There has since been rapid uptake of the opportunity. Paul Ryan farms red hybrid tilapia in Vanuatu and sells up to 2.5 tons a week. He is already planning to increase this amount. The most dramatic trend is seen in Papua New Guinea with its large inland population. According to Peter Minimulu of the National Fisheries Authority, there are around 20,000 fish farmers now estimated to be producing 10,000 tons of fish annually. (Previously, there was a scarcity of data for PNG tilapia production.) Unfortunately for aquaculture prospects, the main species of tilapia found in the Pacific region is the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). The stock originating from the small handful of adult fish introduced 60 years ago “has lost most of its exploitable levels of genetic variation and so is unlikely to respond positively to any stock improvement program,” according to Professor Mather, a geneticist based at Queensland University of Technology. Moreover, Mozambique tilapia is now widespread and associated with declines in native species, said Aaron Jenkins from Wetlands International [10].

Philippines

• Fish farming flavor of the month

The January 2010 issue of Agriculture Magazine will features three stories about Pangasius, the fast-growing freshwater fish from Vietnam which is becoming increasingly popular with consumers as well as fish farmers in the Philippines. The main feature is about the biggest Pangasius hatchery in the province of Rizal, that of St. Martha Farms in Teresa. The second story is written by Jojo Baldia, about how fish farmers can economize on Pangasius feeds. The third story is written by Max Prudencio who reports on the increasing popularity of this fish in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) [4].

• Pangasius looms as the new rave of the aquaculture industry

This fleshy and fast-growing fish, said Dr. Adelaida Palma, was introduced in the country by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Inland Fisheries Technology Center (BFAR-NIFTC) as early as 1981. Currently, pangasius fingerlings are both imported and produced locally through big-time companies such as the Blue Bay hatchery and Vitarich Corp. There are also private and government hatcheries in some parts of Luzon and Mindanao. Vitarich Corp. is offering contract-growing schemes mainly in Bulacan and Pampanga to increase local production. Imee Chun, an official of the corporation, said that they plan to tap into the export market later on [5].

• Fish farming and honey production

The government and entrepreneurs here have set their eyes on the production of honey and tilapia, two of the six emerging products of choice in Southern Mindanao. Honey production is an existing livelihood activity in the rural areas of Davao City and Davao del Norte but a government study showed that this remains a backyard activity. This, despite the high market price which should have been an incentive for more commercialised production. Production of tilapia, on the other hand, has been unable to satisfy the domestic demand despite the proliferation of several aquatic farms in the southern areas of Mindanao. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the production in commercial quantity of the two products would be given priority by the government and the private sector to develop the emerging products in Davao region [9].

• Catanduanes shifts from pig to tilapia

Instead of pigs that entail expensive food, Catanduanes now plans to raise tilapia to ensure food security in the island province. The island province, under its Livelihood Vehicle for Job Regeneration Program, used to maintain a hog-breeding station that produced quality stocks for medium-scale and backyard piggery projects. These piggeries were put up by families and individuals who invested in the production of meat, but abandoned several years ago when these local businessmen incurred financial losses due to the high cost of maintenance. “Later on, we experimented on tilapia-raising using the abandoned hog-raising project. We found it more feasible and effective in job generation and food production. Now, we are bent on pursuing this newfound food-production venture,” provincial agriculturist Herbert Evangelista told the BusinessMirror over the weekend. Evangelista said the province’s tilapia-production project enjoys the support of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that provided the provincial government last week with a P500,000 fund for the establishment of a hatchery in the province. The amount, which was turned over by Dennis del Socorro, BFAR regional director for Bicol, to Gov. Joseph Cua would be used for the acquisition of tilapia seed stock, maintenance and other requirements for the putting up of the hatchery, Evangelista said [10].

• Minnesota farmers take part in soybean mission to Philippines, Malaysia

Minnesota Soybean Growers Association representatives Matt Widboom of Worthington and Bob Nelsen of Westbrook returned from a soybean growers mission trip to the Philippines and Malaysia. The soybean growers mission trip, hosted by Omaha, Neb.-based Ag Processing, Inc. (AGP), departed Nov. 28, and included farmers from Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. AGP began hosting the trip about half a dozen years ago as a way to introduce Midwestern soybean farmers to their overseas customers. Outside of the United States, the Philippines is AGP’s top customer for soybean meal. The group’s first stop was in Manila, Philippines, where they met with buyers of U.S.-produced soybean meal. “We had informal meetings with them and learned about their use of our products in aquaculture — fish feeding,” said Widboom, adding that aquaculture is big business in the country. At one mill they visited, more than 300 varieties of fish food were processed, from starter to grower and finisher. In addition to rearing Tilapia, fish farmers also grow white fish and grouper. The group stayed in Makati City, in the heart of metropolitan Manila, with excursions through the vastly poor, rural regions on their way to tours of milling operations. While the American group’s mission to the Philippines and Malaysia wasn’t to convince the country to purchase more U.S.-produced soybean meal — although that would be a positive indirect result — Widboom said the trip focused more on bringing producers eye to eye with overseas consumers. In doing so, they heard numerous comments about the high price for U.S.-grown products [12].

• Department of Agriculture mulls bigger fisheries budget

The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to allocate a hefty P1 billion budget for the fisheries subsector, particularly aquaculture, next year. As part of moves to develop the aquaculture industry, two DA agencies have partnered with a Bangkok-based regional fisheries center in carrying out three aquaculture projects in the Visayas and Mindanao. The projects of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), which are under the banner of its Aquaculture Department’s Institutional Capacity Development for Sustainable Aquaculture (ICDSA), are being carried out with the support of the DA’s Bureau of Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and National Irrigation Administration (NIA). In Capiz, the project involves freshwater aquaculture production. BFAR provided funds for the purchase of construction materials to build fish cages, while NIA provided information regarding the dam construction that affected the rice farms of the beneficiaries. In Misamis Occidental, the SEAFDEC-AQD provided technical assistance in improving the production of the province’s aquamarine park multi-species hatchery by extending technologies it had developed on the hatchery and grow-out of grouper, with BFAR monitoring the implementation of the project. In Northern Samar, SEAFDEC-AQD and BFAR collaborated with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in helping small mud crab catchers in four municipalities through the adoption of mud crab production technologies developed from studies funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) [13].

• Thai firm investing P2.4b

Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines Corp., a unit of one of Thailand’s largest food conglomerates, is investing P2.36 billion to put up an aqua feed mill plant in Capas, Tarlac. The company, a wholly- owned subsidiary of the Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Co. Ltd. Thailand, one of Asia’s largest food conglomerates, will produce fish and shrimp feeds in pelletized, crumbled and extruded forms by using the latest machineries and equipment acquired from China and Europe, records at the Board of Investment show. The plant, which will have four production lines of aqua feeds, will have an annual capacity of 114,000 metric tons. The BoI said project was expected to generate 209 new jobs and would start commercial operations in January 2011 [14].

Taiwan

• Taiwan grouper farmers struggle to keep heads above water

Taiwan grouper farmers, if they survived Morakot Typhoon at all, have been struggling to keep their heads above water in their efforts to recover the lucrative market. The culture of groupers, also known as rock fish, in seawater aquaculture ponds in the southernmost county of Pingtung, particularly in its Linbian and Jiadong townships, had been a leading cash cow in Taiwan's aquaculture industry, with exports topping US$40 million in 2008, a figure that has jumped 48-fold in the last three years. The fishery, however, was nearly drowned by a mass inundation triggered by Typhoon Morakot, with 90 percent of the grouper farms washed away or choked by silt even if the fish themselves were not washed away. It takes at least two years for fish farmers to have their aquaculture stocks replenished and export delivery resumed. Besides the time factor, the fish farmers need to raise money to survive, at least NT$15 million (US$454,545) to start a pond. In the wake of the typhoon, some managed to raise enough money to resume grouper culture, some shifted their operations to cheaper fish such as tilapia, and many were forced out of the market altogether after failing to secure loans from banks [16].

United States

• FDA launches its first debarment action

U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that it has issued for the first time a debarment order by eliminating a Virginia seafood dealer from importing food for 20 years. The FDA stated that Peter Xuong Lam, president of the Virginia Star Seafood Corp. of Fairfax, was sentenced to imprisonment till five years for a conspiracy that was made by him for importing catfish from Vietnam and labels it sole, grouper, flounder or other species of fish which is not at all subject to U.S. import tariffs. The officials also said that beside imprisonment Lam was ordered to forfeit more than $12 million to reimburse the government for anti-dumping duties. "The conspiracy involved more than 10 million pounds of frozen catfish fillets from Vietnam," the FDA said in a statement [1].

• Offshore Aquaculture Act introduced to US Congress

Congresswoman Lois Capps introduced landmark legislation last week, the National Sustainable Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2009. The Act will establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for offshore aquaculture development that takes a balanced approach to environmental and economic issues. The legislation would also establish a research programme to address important data gaps and ensure that offshore aquaculture development proceeds in an ecologically sustainable fashion. Currently there are no national policies or laws governing how this method of offshore fish farming should be regulated in America’s territorial waters which generally begin three miles from the coastline. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have said the agency will offer its own national aquaculture policy in early 2010. In January 2009, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council adopted a fishery management plan to develop a permitting system for offshore aquaculture. In September 2009, NOAA took the unusual step of making no active decision on this plan. This allowed the plan to enter into effect and set a dangerous precedent whereby aquaculture is regulated on a case-by-case basis with an inconsistent application of regulations and standards. 
This piecemeal approach lays the groundwork for a fragmented regulatory system for offshore aquaculture in the United States that could result in significant and potentially irreversible environmental consequences, including water pollution from waste products and chemicals, threats of disease transmission to wild fish populations, harmful effects on native marine species from escaped farmed species, and an increase in the use of wild forage fish for aquaculture feeds. The key provisions of the legislation include:

1. Establishing a clear, streamlined regulatory process for offshore aquaculture with specific provisions and permit terms to protect marine ecosystems and coastal communities;
2. Requiring coordinated, regional programmatic environmental impact statements to provide regulatory certainty, ensure environmental protection for sensitive marine areas, and reduce conflicts among competing uses of the marine environment; and
3. Authorizing new funds for research to provide the crucial feedback needed for adaptive, environmentally-sound management of this new use of offshore waters [7].

• USDA Aquaculture Statistics

Figures show that catfish sold to processors has fallen 19 per cent from 2004 to 2008, suggesting that the number of catfish produced is decreasing or that growers are selling elsewhere. In 2008, 509,597 thousand pounds (liveweight) of catfish was sold, a 2.6 per cent increase on the previous year. Figures for 2009 are incomplete, however it appears that production each month until October is down dramatically compared to the same months in previous years. 2007 saw the sharpest decrease, since then numbers have picked up slightly. Imports of tilapia into the US have increased more than doubled since 2003, when only 198,955 thousand pounds were imported, to 395,559 thousand pounds imported in 2008. Imports for the period January to October 2009 appear greater than for the same period last year. Mainland China is the main source of tilapia imports into the US, and demand has grown significantly over the last six years. Imports from Indonesia, Honduras, Costa Rica and Thailand have increased substantially. Imports from Thailand dropped significantly in 2007, but in 2008, increased to four times what they were in 2006. It appears this year, that imports from Thailand may be down again. As the volume of tilapia imports into the US have increased, the value has increased only marginally by 0.5 US dollars per pound of tilapia. Imports of shrimps into the US have remained fairly steady since 2003, peaking in 2006 at 1,306,623 thousand pounds. Figures for January to October 2009, are lower than figures for the previous year. In 2003, shrimp imports totalled 1,114,758 thousand pounds, this increased by 12 per cent to 2008, when 1,248,896 thousand pounds were imported. The majority of imports are from Thailand, which have increased over the past six years. Imports from China, Viet Nam and India appear to have fallen gradually, whereas imports from Indonesia have tripled. The value of imports up to date in 2009, is 3,075,584 thousand US dollars, which equates to $3.1 per pound of shrimp. This figure is slightly lower than the 2003 value, which was $3.38 per pound [17].

• CEO of Cresskill seafood importer guilty of selling falsely labeled

The chief executive officer of Cresskill-based Sterling Seafood Corporation pleaded guilty today to importing falsely labeled fish from Vietnam and evading over $60 million in federal tariffs, as well as selling over $500,000 in similarly misbranded fish purchased from another importer in the United States. At his plea hearing, George admitted that from 2004 to 2006, he agreed with the Vietnamese distribution company to engage in a scheme to falsely identify and declare the purchase and importation of the Vietnamese catfish in order to evade the applicable antidumping duties. He stated that he specifically instructed the Vietnamese company to fraudulently identify the Vietnamese catfish as "grouper" on commercial contracts, purchase orders, and other documents because grouper was not subject to antidumping duties [26].

Vietnam

• Vietnam to spend over $70 mil to boost tra fish production

Vietnamese Prime Minister has approved a VND1,300 billion-plus (US$70.4 million) project to develop tra fish production and consumption in the Mekong Delta from now until 2020. The project includes zoning areas for production and consumption, improving production infrastructure, and incorporating local families farming tra fish into cooperatives. It will require processing plants to sign contracts for buying raw materials from farmers. The project aims to extend farming areas of tra fish, or pangasius, to 11,000 hectares by 2015 and 13,000 hectares by 2020 at provinces like Vinh Long, Can Tho and An Giang. It envisages new farms as being larger than ten hectares that will not only focus on production but also processing and consumption [2].

• The New Dimension for Aquaculture in Vietnam

ILDEX Vietnam Aquaculture Conference 2010 to discuss a new dimension for aquaculture in Vietnam as Vietnam needs to move quickly toward sustainable aquaculture before it is too late. The aquaculture industry forum will take place on March 25, 2010, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is a forum where leading aquaculture experts from around the region share views and visions on global aquaculture practices and trends. ILDEX Vietnam Aquaculture Conference 2010 will focus on three major issues: sustainability and certification; innovations in culture technology; and feed management & development [3].

• A General Aquaculture Company emerging

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will merge in January 2010 the General Company of Vietnam's aquaculture and aquatic products with those of Ha Long Bien and Dong, which will then become the Vietnam's General Aquaculture Company. With a registered capital of about VND 1.008 billion, it will be specialized in, among others, the logistics of fishing, farming, processing of seafood and exports of aquatic products. It will be the largest sector in Vietnam with 12 member companies and 13 joint ventures [11].

• Delta farmers get boost in technology

Extensive use of technology in agriculture has helped the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region increase yields. Since 2005 around 800 different research products and new technologies have been applied. Aquaculture is strength of this region which farms fish and other creatures on 100,000 ha of land. By using micro-organism-based feed, shrimp farmers have achieved remarkable productivity of 15 tonnes per ha. Now, farmers in the northern and central regions have also begun to use this product [12].

• Fish farming on the rise

According to VietNamNet, Ninh Thuan Province has around 1,400 breed production farms that can turn out 12-15 billion breeds per year. However, only 40 per cent of the farms can meet quality standards of seafood processors. The remaining 60 per cent are small, private farms that do not follow any technical processes. Vinh Long Province needs around 1.3 billion tra and basa fish breeds per year but local farms provide only 62 per cent. Many enterprises have to buy breeds on the market without origin and quality guarantees. Ninh Thuan is the largest tiger and white-legged shrimp producing province in Vietnam but most breeds are caught in their natural habitats. Due to the shortage of breeds, many farm owners have used medicines to induce reproduction of breeds to meet the large demand. “Some farms in Vinh Long Province have been found to use the medicines for two-year-old breeds. Technically, just breeds above three years old can reproduce. We know it but cannot prohibit or suspend violating farms due to lack of punitive regulations,” Mr Hong said. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued regulations on the production and trading of seafood breeds but most localities have ignored them. Shortcomings have also arisen since animal health departments were assigned to inspect breed quality. Aquaculture departments have to ask animal health workers to inspect farms suspected of having substandard breeds, giving farm owners time to sell the breeds before inspectors arrive, the delegates explained [15].

• Vietnam owns technologies for breeding 60 species

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced that the country currently dominate the technologies for breeding 60 species. These include Pangasius, the White leg Penaeus shrimp, the Black Tiger Shrimp, the Giant Freshwater shrimp, various bivalves including Pacific oyster, Babylonia areolata, marine crabs, the fish Semilabeo notabilis [19].

• A world force in fish farming

Viet Nam’s total production value of agro-forestry-aquaculture this year reached VN$ 220,000 billion (US$ 12 billion), an increase of nearly three per cent against last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The export value of those products was estimated at $15.3 billion. Farm produce still makes up the largest proportion of the exported products, followed by aquaculture, then forestry. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Le Phuong said agro-forestry-fishery exports would face more difficulties next year. Mr Phuong explained that besides the fact that many importers would adopt stricter control on food safety and hygiene, many new regulations and codes are due to take effect. The US Farm bill and the EU’s IUUF regulation which both take effect tomorrow, require all fishery products exported to the US and EU to have proof of legal exploitation. All of these documents have to be approved by local authorities before the products are shipped [20].

• Good prospects for in vitro reproduction of fish bong lau

After 5 months, the first bong lau fish (Pangasius krempfi) born and bred through artificial reproductive techniques are developing well said Trinh Quoc Trong, researcher at the Institute of Aquaculture Research No. 2. The bong lau fish is a valuable species found in particular in the Mekong River and is very popular with consumers, as its flesh is tasty. Besides Vietnam, other countries bordering the Mekong River (Cambodia, Laos and Thailand) would like to develop the breeding of this fish. In 2005, after 2 years of research, scientists were able to specify the appropriate environment they needed to live and be fed in captivity, which helped raise the future parents of wild strain. In September 2008, the Institute of Aquaculture Research No. 2 has managed to reproduce the first bong lau fish through the method of artificial propagation in vitro [21].

• In Russia, Pangasius is popular

Despite the global economic crisis, the Vietnamese aquatic exports last year reached 4.3 billion dollars, up 0.7% over 2008, according to the Vietnamese Association of processing and export of aquatic products (VASEP). Just for the fish Pangasius, 1.4 billion dollars in revenues were recorded, including 100 million dollars on the Russian market, a country where the volume flow of this fish has increased sharply in December (27,000 tonnes). The Steering Committee of exports to Russia and the Association of Russian importers have been working last year on an agreement on strengthening cooperation, including the creation of more favorable conditions for businesses between the 2 countries by participating in fairs and exhibitions. In 2010, VASEP plans to export not only pangasius but also shrimp. According VASEP, Vietnam will export this year between 60,000 and 70,000 tons of pangasius in Russia. This volume is far below the needs of the market, so it has proposed to Russia to grant export licenses to other companies in Vietnam [22].

• White leg shrimp – a seafood star

Since 2008 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has allowed farmers to breed white leg shrimps on a large scale after a period of prohibition. It has proved to be a wise move. Over the last 10 years, shrimp has been a key seafood export item for Vietnam. Shrimp exports still represent 50 percent of the total seafood export turnover, even with more and more tra and basa fish being exported. According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s seafood export turnover increased in 2009 despite a difficult year for the international economy. Citing the figures provided by customs agencies, VASEP confirmed that it was shrimp that was behind the impressive stats. In previous years, black tiger shrimp represented 95 percent of the total shrimp export turnover. However, the proportion has decreased to 75 percent over the last two years, since Vietnam removed the ban on white leg shrimp farming. Preliminary statistics show Vietnam earned 300 million dollars in 2009 from white leg shrimp exports [25].

• Vinh Hoan will produce Pangasius's collagen

The company got clearance for building a collagen-producing plant in Dong Thap (China). The plant will have a 1000 tons/year capacity and investment cost will be 12 million USD. The building will start in March 2010 and is expected to be concluded by October [27].

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[20] http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/050110/vietnam___a_world_force_in_fish_farming.aspx (consulted on January 6, 2010)
[21] http://lecourrier.vnanet.vn/default.asp?page=newsdetail&newsid=59028 (consulted on January 6, 2010)
[22] http://lecourrier.vnagency.com.vn/default.asp?page=newsdetail&newsid=59094 (consulted on January 6, 2010)
[23] http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=136867 (consulted on January 7, 2010)
[24] http://ekikrat.in/Aquaculture-Authority (consulted on January 9, 2010)
[25] http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/201001/White-leg-shrimp-%E2%80%93-a-seafood-star-888274/ (consulted on January 9, 2010)

[26] http://bergennow.com/201001201153/cresskill/cresskill-nj-new-jersey-sterling-seafood-corporation-thomas-george-old-tappan-guilty-convicted-conviction-consumer-fraud-vietnamese-catfish-grouper.html (consulted on January 21, 2010)

[27] http://fis.com/fis/techno/newtechno.asp?l=s&id=35254&ndb=1 (consulted on January 28, 2010)

[28] http://www.tahitipresse.pf/2010/01/le-centre-technique-aquacole-un-outil-pour-developper-leconomie-locale/ (consulted on January 28, 2010)
[29] http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6882003.html (consulted on January 29, 2010)