Black carp farming at Ban Ve Hydroelectric Dam

(Baonghean) -Ban Ve Hydroelectric Dam (Tuong Duong district) has a water surface area of ​​up to 4,500,000 m2 and an elevation of 200 m, with a total lake capacity of 1.8 billion m3.³. The construction of Ban Ve Hydropower Reservoir has destroyed the land area for traditional sloping land cultivation. Therefore, shifting the production structure to aquaculture and fishing is an inevitable trend.

Raising black carp on Ban Ve Hydroelectric Reservoir.

Concerned about the reality of finding suitable farming objects for people in the Ban Ve Hydropower Reservoir area, the Department of Science and Technology has implemented the Project "Application of scientific and technological advances to build a model for commercial farming of black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus Richardson, 1846) in cages on the Ban Ve Hydropower Dam, Tuong Duong District, Nghe An Province" chaired by Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu.

Black carp is a specialty fish, providing high-end products, meat and fish eggs have high nutritional value, a large consumer market, so raising black carp is highly economically efficient. Black carp is a large fish, they grow fastest from the 2nd to 4th year, the average exploitation size is from 2 - 5kg. This is a voracious species, when young they eat zooplankton, mosquito larvae, dragonfly larvae, when older they switch to eating bottom animals such as clams, snails, mussels, small clams, shrimp, crabs and insects. Fish from 0.5kg or more can eat large snails, 4 years old can consume 1 - 2kg of mollusks/day. They use strong teeth to crush mollusk shells, filter out soft muscle and then chew out the broken shell pieces. To gain 1kg of black carp, 30 - 40kg of snails and mussels including shells are needed.

Currently, the project is building a commercial model of raising black carp in cages using industrial feed on a hydroelectric dam lake with a scale of 180m3, with a productivity of 25kg/m3. According to Mr. Hieu, for the fish to grow well, the cage location must ensure: Optimal water environment, depth over 10m, moderate flow rate, not near polluted wastewater sources, convenient for traffic. Density 10 fish/m3, fish size from 200 - 300g/fish; the feed for black carp is industrial feed with a protein content of 28 - 30% and lipid 10 - 14%, and snails and vitamins, minerals, and trace elements are periodically supplemented. Depending on the size of the fish, the food is large or small to fit the fish's mouth.

Using industrial feed combined with snail supplementation is suitable for commercial farming of black carp because the combination of these two types of feed ensures criteria such as high fish growth rate, high fish survival rate, low feed cost and especially industrial feed can be proactive all year round. Feed in the early morning and late afternoon with a daily feed amount of 3 - 7% of the fish's weight. Use a fish feeding screen to easily observe the amount of feed in the pond to avoid excess feed contaminating the water source or lack of feed. Periodically check and bathe the fish, clean the cage net. Reservoir cage farming technology with large water flow, clean and abundant water source will be the condition for fish to grow quickly, reduce disease and shorten the farming time as well as production investment costs. Therefore, products produced at Ban Ve Hydropower Dam (Tuong Duong) are competitive in price compared to other localities.

According to Mr. Hieu, after 20 months of project implementation (from April 2012 to April 2014), the fish are in the breeding stage, weighing 2 - 5kg/fish, with a survival rate of 75%. Currently, they have been harvested and sold to the market at prices ranging from 110,000 - 150,000 VND/kg.

The initial success of the commercial farming process of black carp in cages will have great appeal to businesses and people who want to raise this species. The project model is suitable for farming at household scale and can be deployed on a large scale. The results of the project will contribute to diversifying farming forms and species, adding a new species of high economic value to the structure of freshwater fish farming in the locality. At the same time, it aims to exploit the potential of the local reservoir water surface to create products of economic value in the area.

The success of the project will contribute to creating more sources of black carp for food consumption, because currently natural black carp products are gradually depleted and the selling price is relatively high. Therefore, the results of the project at Ban Ve Hydropower Reservoir, Tuong Duong District are likely to open up a direction for the production of goods with high economic value, contributing to bringing clear economic and social efficiency to people and businesses participating in freshwater aquaculture activities.

Cam Tu