Tra fish farming in Long An suffers under poor management

A tra fish farm in Tan Thanh District, Long An Province – PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH

CAN THO – The government of the Mekong Delta province of Long An late last month called for better controls on tra fish breeding. However, thousands of hectares of rice fields have already been converted into tra fish farms.

The Long An Department of Natural Resources and Environment is expected to work with district authorities to manage unplanned tra fish breeding areas, particularly paddy fields.

The provincial government also asked the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to enhance the training of local farmers, prevent diseases affecting specific tra fish breeds and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to identify the tra farming areas in the province.

The province now has nearly 2,000 hectares under tra fish farming, mainly in Tan Thanh and Vinh Hung districts. Only two years ago, this kind of seafood was not farmed anywhere in the province.

Duong Nghia Quoc, chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius Association (VINAPA), told the Saigon Times that last year, VINAPA and the Vietnam Directorate of Fisheries reported that farmers had rushed to ask the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to convert their paddy fields to tra fish farms. The ministry later told the localities in the Mekong Delta to tighten the management of tra fish breeding areas.

Although the concern by the Long An government comes late, it is more important to deal with the problem now, Quoc added.

He suggested strengthening the links between farmers and enterprises and among enterprises as well to control product quality and ensure the sustainable development of the agriculture sector.