Mastering the breeding technology and industrial farming of yellowfin pompano

Flock of 'terrible' original yellowfin pompano in Van Phong Bay

In the last days of May, we went to Bai Tranh area, located in the waters of Van Phong Bay , Van Ninh district (Khanh Hoa), where we are keeping a stock of valuable original seed (short-finned) pompano. high economic efficiency of the Research Institute for Aquaculture I (referred to as Institute I).

From Hon Khoi port (Ninh Hoa town), it takes about 30 minutes by high-speed canoe to arrive. In front of us appeared a modern HDPE cage system (Norwegian style) being pioneered by Institute I for industrial-scale marine farming . In which, 22 square HDPE cages, size 5 x 5 x 5m, are raising hundreds of "terrible" yellowfin pompano with parents, gilts and fingerlings.

Mr. Chu Chi Thiet, Director of the North Central Aquaculture Research Sub-Institute (under Institute I), said that since 2018, the unit has been assigned by the Directorate of Fisheries to produce and supply public products. similar to the original yellowfin pompano (short fin species).

Up to now, the unit is keeping 232 pairs of parents (464 children) of yellowfin pompano in Van Phong Bay. These brood stock were derived from selection during previous research missions of the Institute and supplemented from natural populations. Thanks to being taken care of like a "child", the parents raised here grow well, with an average weight of 4-6 kg/fish.

According to Mr. Thiet, in order to protect and take care of this original breed of yellowfin pompano, the unit arranges a force of 2-3 people who are always on duty 24/24 hours a day to monitor. From December to May (lunar calendar) is the breeding season of fish, the people who work here work even harder, because they have to monitor the fish that lay eggs to quickly transport them to the hatchery on the shore.

“To know if the fish are about to lay eggs, we have to catch each fish and then use an egg probe (silicone tube, diameter 1,000µm) through the genital opening to get their sexual products. If any eggs are found, they will be placed in a separate cage, then injected with reproductive hormones. After 30 - 48 hours, the fish will lay eggs. Normally, fish spawn at night, so we collect the eggs and transfer them to the hatchery early the next morning,” said Mr. Thiet.

According to Mr. Thiet, the unit has mastered the stable production technology of yellowfin pompano with high technical criteria. Specifically, the maturation rate of broodstock >85%; percentage of broodstock participating in spawning >70%; survival rate from fry to fingerlings (size 3 cm) >17%; malformation rate <3%.

Take us to visit the hatchery in Xuan Tu village, Van Hung commune (Van Ninh) with a total area of 7,000m2, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thuy, Deputy Director of the North Central Aquaculture Research Sub-Institute for In addition, the reproductive capacity of female fish reached over 5,000 fry/kg body weight. Eggs after being collected are incubated in composite plastic tanks with a volume of 500 - 1,000 liters, incubation density of 500 eggs / liter. After the eggs hatch for 2-3 hours, the fry will be collected and transferred to the nursery tank. The density of fry in rearing is from 40 to 60 fish/liter.

During the period from 18 to 22 days, fry will be fed with plankton feed produced by the unit on site. After that, the fish will be brought to the cement tank (22 m3 / tank) in the farm to be raised for up to 2 months with industrial food. When the fingerlings reach the size of 4-5cm, they will be sold or brought back to square or round HDPE cages on Van Phong Bay for further rearing or grow-out.

According to Ms. Thuy, the unit's production capacity is about 1 million seeds per year. In addition to meeting the needs of closed farming of Institute I, the amount of seed produced is also provided to farmers in provinces such as Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Khanh Hoa, Vung Tau, Kien Giang... in the form of cage culture above. coastal saltwater or brackish water ponds or ponds.

Because fingerlings belong to the scientific and technological tasks assigned by the State, they are agreed to sell at the approved price of 4,550 VND/fish (size 4-5 cm/fish), several thousand lower than the market. VND/child.

Breeding yellowfin pompano on an industrial scale

Yellowfin pompano belongs to the group of fierce, carnivorous fish, distributed in coastal waters with sandy bottoms, seaweed, sea grass, and coral reefs. They are marine fish with high economic value, fast growth rate, can reach commercial size 0.6 - 0.8 kg/fish after 8-10 months of feeding with industrial feed. Yellowfin pompano is less likely to get sick and can be kept at high densities in ponds or cages in brackish and salt water bodies.

At Institute I, for many years, we have successfully raised commercial yellowfin pompano in HDPE cages, with the survival rate usually reaching 76 - 84% from the time of stocking to the end of the farming season lasting 8 - 10 months.

Mr. Pham Duc Phuong, Director of the Center for High-Tech Aquaculture (Institute I), said that after reaching the size of 2-3cm, the fingerlings will be transferred to the Center's marine farm on Van Phong Bay for rearing. HDPE cage has a circumference of 60m, a net depth of 8m, a volume of 2,500m3.

This round cage can raise up to 100,000 fish, with a lower loss rate than rearing in the farm, because the rearing environment in the sea is open and clean, so the water is clean, so it ensures the growth and development of the fish. After 40-45 days of rearing, fish will be screened and stocked for grow-out in HDPE round cages. According to the design, this cage can release up to 50,000 yellowfin pompano, with a yield of 25 tons/cage.

However, according to Mr. Phuong, currently the farm only releases about 25,000 fish/cage, with a harvest output of 23,000-24,000 heads, each weighing from 0.6-0.7kg, equivalent to 15-18 tons/cage. .

From 2018 to now, the farm has operated stably with an output of about 200 tons/crop. Before the years when the Covid-19 epidemic was not affected, about 50% of commercial fish production was consumed domestically, and was also exported to the US and Middle East countries with the selling price ranging from 110 to 150 thousand VND/kg. 20 - 30% profit. However, in the past 2 years, due to the impact of diseases and high transportation costs (containers), farmed fish are mainly consumed domestically.

Currently, the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic has been controlled, domestic and foreign market demand is attracting goods, so the farm is promoting commercial stocking to serve consumers in the near future.

It is known that this is the first industrial-scale marine fish farm (mainly yellowfin pompano) in the country to be recognized as meeting VietGAP standards. The farming process absolutely does not use antibiotics, uses 100% industrial feed, the loss rate is low. 

In addition, Institute I has mastered the technology of designing and installing HDPE cages according to Norwegian technology with localized cage materials, reducing costs by more than 50% compared to imported cages. The system of cages and anchors is designed to resist storms at level 11. However, in fact, it can still withstand a strong storm of level 12 and shock level 15 (Damrey) that landed at the end of 2017 and passed through the cage area.