Panga to become the most popular fish

Vietnam developed a successful story with the
aquaculture of 2 species of Pangasius. The Pangasius business started with the
farming of Pangasius bocourti called “basa” in Vietnamese and then followed with
the farming of Pangasius hypophthalmus called “tra”. The latter now represents
more than 98% of the pangasius export. 

In 2006, Vietnam produced
600,000 MT of Pangasius and this figure is estimated to reach 1,000,000 MT by
2010. With a continuous harvesting season, Pangasius fillet is available all
year round. This fish is already being distributed into 70 markets of the world
and is one of the most successful whitefish species of all times comparable to
the seawater catches of Cod and Alaska Pollack. See the table below for some
export figures from 2007.

Table – Vietnamese Pangasius exports Jan-
Sept 2007

	2007
	‘000 MT	US$ million
EU	125.7	348.1
Russia	27.8	54.1
ASEAN*	25.2	58.4
Ukraine	17	29.5
USA	16.3	52.8
China	13.8	30.1
Others	46.9	136.6
Total	272.7	709.6

* Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand [source: FAO Globefish]

New business
opportunities
The Pangasius presents new business opportunities in
both local and export markets. This became very clear when o ne of the
presenters of the television programme went to Vietnam – the heart of Pangasius
production. By boat they went to a massive Pangasius farm, owned by a Dutch
man. He said that Pangasius is getting very popular around the world.
“It has a mild taste and it is an easy fish to farm” the farmer said. They are
also easy eaters; having all kinds of live, fresh, and flake foods,
although they get a fully vegetarian diet more
often.

Winner
“With 1 billion pangas per year and 250,000 fishes in
the pond, it is really a big business” says the Dutch Panga farmer. It is
expected that pangasius will become the number one farmed fish in the future.
Until now, salmon was the most farmed specie. It can certainly be stated that
the Pangasius changed the world of aquaculture and will probably be as – or more
– successful as the Salmon or the Tilapia.