Project
Development of Alternatives to the Use of Freshwater Low Value Fish for Aquaculture in the Lower Mekong Basin of Cambodia and Vietnam: Implications for Livelihoods, Production, and Markets
Details
Project Code:
Not Available
Start Date:
2007
End Date:
2013/03/31
CRSP Phase:
Phase 1
Budget:
Not Available
Participants
Lead University:
University of Connecticut - Avery Point
Other Partners:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), International Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island (US); Inland Fisheries Research & Development Institute (IFREDI) (Cambodia); Can Tho University (Vietnam); Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Nelson Bay (Australia); Fisheries Administration in Cambodia (FiA), (Cambodia); International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa (Canada); Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia (NACA), (Thailand); Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture (Philippines); The WorldFish Center (Malaysia)
Principal Investigator(s):
Robert S. Pomeroy (US Lead Project PI); Nam So (Host Country Lead PI; Cambodia)
Co-Principal Investigator(s):
David A. Bengtson (US); Tran Thi Thanh Hien (Vietnam)
Overview
The vision of this project is for sustainable freshwater aquaculture development in the Lower Mekong basin region of Cambodia and Vietnam, taking into consideration the balancing of social, economic and environmental/natural resource needs and implications. This vision takes into account that the main driver of this project is the continued expansion of aquaculture and its dependency on capture fisheries for low value/trash fish for feed. It also takes into account that: capture and culture fisheries continue to play an important role in the food security, poverty alleviation and economies of both countries; the strong interdependency between capture fisheries and aquaculture; management of these two sub-sectors cannot be carried out in isolation of each other; there is increasing intra-regional trade; and there is increasing competition and conflict between the use of low value/trash fish for feed and human consumption. This project will address this issue through six separate but complementary investigations on the management of low value/trash fish fisheries; development of alternative feeds and feeding strategies; outreach and feed technology adoption; market and trade development; and value-added product development.
Related AquaFish investigations include: 09SFT01UC, 09IND02UC, 09SFT01UC, 09IND02UC, 09TAP03UC, 09FSV01UC, 09MER04UC, 09MNE04UC, 09FSV03UC, 07MER01UC, 07MNE01UC, 07TAP01UC
Objectives
Coming soon
Outcomes
To date, the project has made considerable progress in accomplishing the objectives set forth in the first phase. Developed weaning methods so that small, hatchery-reared snakehead can be quickly adapted to pelleted diets. Determined that Channa striata snakehead survive as well on pelleted diets in which up to 50% of the fishmeal has been replaced by soybean meal as they do on pelleted diets made purely of fishmeal. Development of best practice compared between traditional product and modern product of fermented fish product, then determine the issues related to low value fish processing practice and value added product development, market and trade to recommend policies and strategies to address the identified problems and issues in order to ensure high quality, safe and nutrition low value fish products for local and international trade, and to support value-added product development. Information was collected about issues on snakehead farming in the region. Market research has revealed a range of markets in the region for the processed products from low value fish.
