Báo cáo nghiên cứu khoa học " Intensive in-pond raceway production of marine finfish - MS3 " pptx

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Project Progress Report




062/04VIE: Intensive in-pond raceway
production of marine finfish




MS3: FIRST SIX-MONTHLY REPORT


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1. Institute Information
Project Name
Intensive in-pond raceway production
of marine finfish
Vietnamese Institution
University of Fisheries
Vietnamese Project Team Leader
Dr. Hoang Tung
Australian Organisation
Queensland Department of Primary
Industries & Fisheries
Australian Personnel
Mr Michael Burke

Date commenced
15 April 2005
(01 August 2005 in Vietnam)
Completion date (original)
15 April 2007
Completion date (revised)
15 September 2007
Reporting period
First 6 months as in original plan

Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
Name:
Mr Michael Burke
Telephone:
+61 7 34002051
Position:
Biologist
Fax:
+61 7 34083535
Organisation
DPI&F
Email:


In Australia: Administrative contact
Name:
Michelle Robbins
Telephone:
+61 7 3346 2711

Position:
Senior Planning
Officer, R&D
Coordination
Fax:
+61 7 3346 2727
Organisation
DPI&F
Email:


In Vietnam
Name:
Dr. Hoang Tung
Telephone:
+84.914 166 145
Position:
Rector’s Assistant for R&D
Fax:
+84.58.831147
Organisation
University of Fisheries
Email:



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2. Project Abstract
This project aims to develop the larval rearing and nursery capacity of marine finfish
production in Vietnam through the use of accessible, cost effective and

environmentally sustainable technologies. Through the development and use of in
pond floating raceways (FR) this project will assist farmers to develop their own
intensive but durable and manageable larval rearing capacity. This capacity will be
used to improve fingerling supply to the industry which is currently both costly and
limited. In addition, advanced nursery capacity will also be developed using the same
principles. Grow out of finfish in raceways to market size will also be investigated in
this project in conjunction with Australian researchers. Researchers from the
Queensland DPI&F will provide expertise in systems management, water quality
management and waste remediation. Species proposed for study include grouper,
cobia and barramundi. All activities will be conducted using ‘zero discharge’
principles where there is no net discharge of effluent. Information from these
activities will be used to train staff from the UoF, its students, industry and other
relevant stakeholders. Active involvement and contribution of different stakeholders
will make this research highly relevant and applicable to the local aquaculture
industries.
3. Executive Summary
The initial phase of this project involved the development of raceway infrastructure as
a demonstration and training facility at the Bribie Island Aquaculture Research Centre
(BIARC) and securing similar development through the University of Fisheries in
Nha Trang. The facilities at BIARC have been used to successfully rear two species of
marine finfish at high densities. These trials will continue to take the fish to market
size within the next 6 months. Trials in Vietnam can only start from February 2006
due to seasonal availability of fish fry. The first Vietnamese MSc student has been
trained at BIARC from October to December 2005. A study tour was organized for
three senior staff of the University of Fisheries to visit farms that are using raceways
and discuss project implementation with the Australian team. Preparations for project
workshops are planned for January 2006 in Australia and February in Vietnam. The
only potential threat to the project concerns the later than expected start to the project
which may affect access to larvae and fingerlings of particular species in both
countries.

4. Introduction & Background
Aquaculture plays an important role in the development of Vietnam’s economy and
has been widely considered as an effective means for poverty alleviation by the FAO.
The country aims to produce 2 million tons of aquaculture products, mainly with
marine species, by 2010. This ambitious target has been supported by a great amount
of financial and technical assistance from the Ministry of Fisheries and several
international agencies including CARD. In Australia, aquaculture has been the fastest
growing primary production sector over the last five years with increasing interest in
species like barramundi, yellowtail kingfish, and more recently grouper and cobia.

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Nonetheless, growth of the marine finfish industry in both countries has been
constrained by the absence of cheap, robust production technologies that alleviate the
negative environmental impacts associated with marine aquaculture. In Vietnam,
marine fish are farmed mainly in small sea cages and partly in coastal ponds with
wild-caught fingerlings. To reduce collection pressure on the wild stocks and supply
more fingerlings for grow-out, tremendous efforts have been spent on development of
artificial seed production of important species such as groupers, cobia and
barramundi. While successful at producing larvae, the lack of an efficient, highly
secure yet financially accessible system for the nursing of fingerlings means a
production bottleneck still exists for Vietnamese finfish growers. Fish are too small
for nursing in cages while survival is low if nursing is conducted in ponds. Nursing
fingerlings in tanks is expensive and limited in production.
In Queensland the traditional sea cage approach to marine fish farming is also viewed
as damaging to coral reefs and other sensitive aquatic habitats. Intense scrutiny of
sea-cage operations indicates these have limited prospects for marine fish farming in
Queensland’s inshore waters. New sustainable yet profitable land based production
methods must be employed in order to return value from the ongoing effort into
marine finfish production. This need is heightened considering that prawn farmers are
seeking alternative cropping opportunities in the wake of global oversupply and the

impact of cheap imports on Australian prawn markets. Currently, no cost effective
commercial systems are available for the intensive production of marine finfish in
closed ‘zero discharge’ systems. Tank based marine recirculation facilities are cost
prohibitive and would fail to take advantage of Queensland’s favourable climate and
existing pond aquaculture infrastructure.
This CARD project is addressing the aforementioned issues by developing a new and
more sustainable farming system for coastal areas and also with potential for
application to inland waters. The developing system combines the innovative design
of floating raceways (FRs) with the concept of bioremediation. FRs, either made of
plastic or cheap materials, have been trialled successfully in Japan, Australia and US.
They function as flow through culture units that exchanges water at a rapid constant
rate, thus enabling intensive stocking rates (up to 100 kg/m
3
) at low capital and
operational cost. In comparison to net cages, FR’s return lower FCR, produce less
waste (up to 30%) and require almost half the labour. Further, a combination of FR’s
and bioremediating secondary crops could result in a closed/semi-closed system that
would help remedy environmental impacts of marine aquaculture. A special feature of
this developing system is its high applicability to small-scale farms using existing
infrastructure with no major change in pond design. This project is expected to help
boosting production of marine fish fingerlings and better use the existing shrimp
ponds, many of which are abandoned in coastal areas. These fit nicely into the
CARD’s framework and aims, i.e. promoting productive technology addressing
social, environmental and human resource development issues.

5. Progress to Date
5.1 Implementation Highlights
• Trials are being conducted in Australia while preparation is underway in
Vietnam for the first trials.

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• Research facilities in Vietnam are now ready for the first trials.
• Plans are completed for training and extension activities. Arrangements
involving stakeholders are finalized. Project routines are established among
partners.

5.2 Smallholder Benefits
In Australia:
• Consultation with Australian industry partners has resulted in supply of eggs
for research trials from collaborative farms and other government agencies.
Plans are being discussed with these farms to also fabricate raceways for use
in their nursery facilities.
• The nursery application and grow out of marine finfish at high densities in
raceways has been demonstrated to several industry, university and training
organisations in the first period of the project.
• An industry awareness program to promote and discuss options for finfish
production in coastal prawn ponds has been proposed for mid 2006.

In Vietnam:
• Through collaboration with Khanh Hoa Fisheries Extension Centre (KFEC),
University of Fisheries (UoF) aims to bring the potential benefits to local
farmers instantly. Furthermore, under instruction of the Project, additional
trials will be implemented using own resources of the centre and possibly a
number of small farms later on (when benefits are more clearly
demonstrated).
• The Project has finalized the plan for an Introductory Workshop on the
Potential of Using Floating Raceways for Aquaculture Production for 50-60
local aquaculture farmers in mid February 2006. Initially, this workshop was
planned for late November 2005 but flooding in the area had hampered the
activity. This workshop aims to introduce the principles of raceway design

and operation, the prototypes that are developed by the project and field
demonstration. Experience in both countries will be presented by project
staff with two experts from Australia participating. It is expected that local
farmers and companies with their creativity would develop a wide range of
low-cost designs and innovate different possibilities of using floating
raceway for aquaculture production. This would help quickly spread out the
“developing technology” and allow the idea (of using floating raceway)
more rigorously tested in different situations.
5.3 Capacity Building
In Australia
• Additional staff members from the BIARC have been trained in the
construction and function of floating raceways. These include Blair Chilton
and Paul Palmer. The collection of cobia broodstock plans to re-commence
in mid 2006. This broodstock will represent the first captive cobia
assembled for aquaculture research in Australia.
In Vietnam

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• Mr. Ngo Van Manh – a junior lecturer of the Faculty of Aquaculture,
University of Fisheries has completed his 3-month (Oct-Dec 2005) training
in Australia where he experienced raceway design, construction and
operation and had implemented an experiment on nursing of barramundi fry.
Mr. Manh is now assisting with the project activities in Vietnam.
• Contract was signed in October 2005 with Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung (the first
technician) and in November 2005 with Mr. HUYNH Kim Khanh (the
second technician) to assist with experiments and extension. These two
technicians will be trained in water quality management and analysis
according to the project plan and are expected to play key role at UoF and
KFEC, respectively regarding this developing technology of using raceway
for marine finfish production.

• A study tour was organized in late November for the Vietnamese Project
Leader and two other staff of UoF by BIARC. The participants visited
raceway facilities at BIARC and commercial farms, discussed with technical
persons regarding the design and operation of raceways. The delegation also
met with DPI&F administrators to strengthen relations and support from
both sides for the project; discussed with Dr. Adrian Collins regarding the
implementation of the project, research strategies and the organization of the
February workshop in Vietnam.
• Training on water quality analysis and monitoring are under preparation and
will also take place in February 2006 for project staff and young faculty
members at the Faculty of Aquaculture, UoF.
5.4 Publicity
• Brief information about the Project has been published on the website of the
Faculty of Aquaculture, University of Fisheries.
• It is planned that once document for the introductory workshop is finalized,
an article will be submitted for publication in one of the national fisheries
journals and possibly in international magazine such as The Advocate
(Global Aquaculture Alliance) or World Aquaculture Magazine (World
Aquaculture Society). This article will also use information obtained from
the Stakeholder Beneficiary Analysis that had been conducted during the
development of this project.
• A poster summarising the project was displayed at the recent Australian
Prawn and Barramundi Farmers’ Association conference on the Gold Coast
(September 24 – 27
th
).
• Farmers who join the Introductory Workshop in February 2006 will receive
a T-shirt from the project. This is an attempt to promote the use of raceway
and the project to publicity in Vietnam. A short script about the workshop
will be broadcasted in local and national TVs.

5.5 Project Management
• Details of collaboration between UoF and KFEC have been finalized by a
legal contract. The University of Fisheries has appointed the research team
of five persons with clear responsibilities according to the request of the
project leader in Vietnam. For monitoring and evaluation purposes, project

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documents were submitted to the Department of Science and Technology
and the Department of Planning and Finance of the university.
• Routines for information exchange and coordination have been established
and practised between the Australian and Vietnamese project leaders.
• The first request for funding transfer has been placed to QDPI&F by UoF
and was handled effectively by QDPI&F. Funding is now available for
activities in the first six months of the project in Vietnam.

6. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues
6.1 Environment
To be mentioned in the next report
6.2 Gender and Social Issues
To be mentioned in the next report

7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues
7.1 Issues and Constraints
• Availability of fry and fingerlings at certain time when experiment needs to be
conducted is foreseen as a challenge, not to mention diseases threat in
Vietnam.
• Due to the later than anticipated start to the project (as the result of contract
negotiations) some difficulty may be experienced with pond water quality as
funds were not available in time to build the system in its complete form
before it was stocked with fish. This may pose some risk with respect to

future maintenance of water quality.
7.2 Options
• Flexibility in species of choice given ample justification provided.
7.3 Sustainability
• Appeared not to be an issue as more interested parties involved in the project.
8. Next Critical Steps
In Vietnam (for the period from February 06 to August 06)
• Testing the experimental systems and research facilities/equipments
• Further training technicians in Vietnam
• Organizing the Introductory Workshop to local farmers
• Conducting the first trials on barramundi, followed by either milkfish or sea
horses and then cobia.
• Preparation of the first scientific article

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• Preparing one-year progress report

In Australia (for the period from February to August 06)
• Finalising waste collection system for raceways including purchasing
equipment and collecting samples to assess performance and impact on water
quality.
• Assess the suitability of pond conditions for introduction of secondary crops.
• Testing the experimental systems and research facilities/equipments
• Facilitating research and training activities for staff from UoF.
• Participation in Industry workshops in Vietnam and Australia.
• Preparing industry and project publications and reports on activities.
9. Conclusion
Project is progressing according to plans in both Australia and Vietnam. The
unexpected delay in contract negotiation has forced project duration in Vietnam to
extend for 5 more months (due to seasonal availability of fish fry).

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