Fish breeding, animal feed needs to catch more investment

Fish breeding, animal feed needs to catch more investment

Fisheries officials say more fingerlings need to be produced locally and animal feed processing requires more investment to make the industry sustainable and meet growing demand in Laos.

“The country needs around 600 million fingerlings per year to supply fish breeders' demand but only 300 million fingerings can be produced from the division's facilities and by local farmers,” Fisheries Division Director, Mr Sommano Phounsavath told Vientiane Times .

Most breeders are importing stock from neighbouring countries as there is a lack of domestic fingerlings supply, he said.

Fingerlings are raised in ponds by farmers using animal feed and the mature fish are later sold to markets for consumers.

Fingerling development and expansion in the country is slow with the government having limited funding to promote this area.

Laos also has a shortage of fisheries technicians to produce Mekong River fingerlings for domestic supply and export.

Mr Sommano gave the example of Oudomxay province, which imported around 80 percent of their fingerlings from China, while most Vientiane breeders import from Thailand and some breeders in southern Laos import from Vietnam.

While the government has approved some foreign entrepreneurs to invest in establishing more animal feed processing plants, supply is not yet enough to meet the demand of fish farmers.

The number of fish breeders around the country is increasing in attempt to meet the growing demand for fish meat.

However, some Vientiane fish breeders are struggling against the competition of foreign breeders as local producers have relatively higher capital costs for their breeding investment.

Mr Sommano said he agreed that more foreign entrepreneurs need to be encouraged to invest in fingerlings, animal feed processing as well as fish breeding as they would help the government boost fish supplies for domestic consumption and future export.

“With the lack of cattle and buffalo supply forcing the price of beef up at the moment, many people have shifted to consuming fish or other meats,” he explained.

“So, to supply fish meat for domestic consumption to an increasing number of people, it requires more investment in this area.”

Despite the country having received some cooperation and assistance from the business sector and international organisations in developing the sector, more needs to be done to make the industry more sustainable.

vientiane times