| Vietnam is experiencing one of the fastest growth rates for fisheries and aquaculture production of any country in the world. In 2001, seafood exports grew by more than 20% with a reported value of US$ 1.8 billion on 2.2 million metric tons of production. For the first time, seafood exports to the US ranked first, with a value of US$ 489 million, putting it at just over 27% of total seafood exports. The government has ambitious plans to increase total seafood exports to 2.45 million metric tons by 2005. The target for the contribution of aquaculture to this projected total is an astounding 1.15 million metric tons or 45% of the total volume. To help achieve this goal, more than 400,000 hectares have been devoted to "organic" shrimp farming in the Ca Mau peninsula, an area in South Vietnam that is the epicenter of shrimp farming activity. | |
| Here is a pictorial sampling of some fish farming operations along the Mekong River and other parts of South Vietnam. |
 |
 |
|
This is a view of the cage culture "houses" that dot the mighty Mekong. These particular floating houses are located in the An Giang province. The floating cages are currently being used to raise basa catfish. Our consulting mission was to provide our expert opinion on converting these cages to raising tilapia. The Mekong is a huge river and it utilized not only by fish farmers but local rice growers as well. There is heavy pressure on this valuable water resource. While it is polluted the situation could be much worse if not for the huge volumes of water that flow through the Mekong every day. |
Here is a close-up of the floating fish cages. These are literally floating houses. Each house has a worker that lives on the structure full-time. It costs less than US$ 12,000 to build one of these using local materials. This structure is a perfect example of the industrious nature and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people. It is not high tech, but is extremely effective at producing fish. One of our concerns was the concentration of these cages on the river. Basa producers have experienced disease problems which are likely due to heavy concentrations of cages in the same area. |
 |
 |
| This is a typical boat that is used to transfer the harvested fish to shore. There is a live well within the boat's interior. Fish are off loaded into smaller containers and carried to the processing plant. Most of the workers earn around US$ $1.00 - 1.50 per day. | This is an inside look into one of the largest processing plants on the Mekong. As you can see, the emphasis is on utilizing manual labor whenever possible. While this is a HACCP certified plant, the product safety standards fall well short of industrialized nation standards. |
 |
 |
| These are tilapia farming cages found in one of the large reservoirs in southern Vietnam. The approach is even lower tech than on the Mekong and looks primitive in comparison. However, this is also an effective method of producing 350-450 gram tilapia for the local market. | This is a close-up of one the cage units. These structures are very unsteady but workers are quite adept at walking along the tied bamboo supports. Oxygen levels were tested and found to be in the acceptable range. Note that the preferred species for culture is the red tilapia |
 |
 |
|
This is an image of a massive government sponsored fish hatchery project that is under development on the Mekong River. No expense has been spared in the construction of this facility. |
The use of concrete for construction of the ponds stands in stark contrast to the lower tech methods being deployed in much of the rest of the country. |
 |
 |
| Here is a shot of one of the completed concrete ponds. This facility is being used as a way to demonstrate the governments commitment to aquaculture along the Mekong. | This is a view of a more traditional tilapia farm that has come up with a unique solution to the problem of wind dispersion of feed. All feed for a pond is dispensed inside the netting in an effort to not waste any feed. |