La pisciculture des Pangasiidae = Fish farming of Pangasiids

For the last 15 years South East Asian fish farming of Pangasiids has shown dramatic growth and expansion. A main contributor in this field, Vietnam is the perfect example of a country having displayed a dynamics combining technical improvement derived from development oriented research, adaptability of culture systems and targeting of international markets. In Indonesia, following the example of Vietnam, fish farming of pangas catfish is developing too since a few years for both domestic and international markets. Fish farming of "pangas" is a traditional activity in Vietnam. In order to allow fish farmers not to depend on wild fry in stocking their ponds and cages, a collaborative scientific programme between France and Vietnam was set up in 1993 aimed at mastering artificial propagation of the two main cultured species, Pangasius bocourti (cultured in cages) and Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (cultured in manured ponds). Successfully achieved in 1995, the artificial propagation of pangas led to deep changes in the panga chain. Pangasius bocourti, grown in cages and the main species for export, displayed difficult sexual maturation in captivity and relatively low fecundity. The other species, P. hypophthalmus, showed easy maturation in captivity and a 10 times higher fecundity. Under these conditions, P. hypophthalmus has become the main culture species. At the same time, the trend evolved towards an increasing use of industrial feed due to the increasing price of trash fish used for on-farm feed manufacturing. Production costs come to 0.6-0.7 US$/kg (0,4-0,47 euro/kg). In Indonesia, fish farming of pangas really started in the nineties. It is based upon one exotic introduced species, P. hypophthamus, and an indigenous one, Pangasius djambal, cultured both in ponds and in cages, in lakes and in rivers, within mostly small scale family farms on Java, Sumatra and Borneo Islands. Vietnam's panga production is estimated at 800,000 mt for 2006 and 1 M mt for 2007, mainly exported. In Indonesia, production for 2006 is estimated at 31,000 mt