Photo credit: MK19 – Fisheries and Aquaculture Production in Reservoirs in Lao PDR
Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
Tilapia is among the few species farmed in cages in Laos. In the present, there are already large-scale cage farms with relatively considerable investment which are in operation. The technology developed in Thailand has crossed boarders and led to the intensification of all-male tilapia production in Laos. The cage farms vary in construction and in size. Frames could be made of locally available materials such as bamboo or could be steel-framed net cages. Cage sizes also vary from 10 to 50 m3. There are fish hatcheries in Laos which supply tilapia fingerlings required for cages where they are grown to market size. Most of the cages are restricted to Nam Ngum reservoir, the smaller Nam Souan and Nam Houm reservoirs, the mainstream Mekong and some major tributaries.
It is believed that the imported feed for caged tilapia could be produced locally, as 80–85% of ingredients are available locally; rice bran, broken rice, maize and cassava limited the imported ingredients mainly to soybean and fish meal.
The results obtained from cage culture of tilapia encouraged the growth of cage aquaculture especially after attracting landless farmers.
It may worth mentioning that tilapia was first introduced from Japan in 1960s, while subsequent introductions came from Thailand and Vietnam.
One of the two photos as the caption reads: one of many tilapia farms on the Nam Ngum River. There are 60 cages at this farm which produces over 300 tons of fish per year. The second photo shows tilapia in cages run by a woman –which is quite normal-. This particular cage farm is located at Ban Keung; the tilapia specimen shown is 1.5 kg with of about 5-months old.
References:
MK19 – Fisheries and Aquaculture Production in Reservoirs in Lao PDR
Feeds and Feeding for Inland Aquaculture in Mekong Region Countries Editors: Peter Edwards and Geoff L. Allan
FAO, 2006. FISHERY COUNTRY PROFILE, FID/CP/LAO
