Catfish

[mysterytrevor]

A couple of months ago we recieved 200 Catfish and a couple of smallish tanks from a Government Agency plus a small supply of feed. I am back in the UK for 6 months so have not actually seen them yet but from research I believe they are Pangasius. Has any one else recieved them and what are you doing with them. My gf's English is not too good but as I understand it the idea is that we fatten them up and and sell them back for export/ They dont seem to be growing as fast as expected in the tanks. We have a small pond that needs weeding and is used to fatten fish caught in rivers but too small to eat at the time. Also does anyone know anything about the price of new fry and the price we might expect to get when they are big enough to sell

[ozzydom]

A couple of months ago we recieved 200 Catfish and a couple of smallish tanks from a Government Agency plus a small supply of feed. I am back in the UK for 6 months so have not actually seen them yet but from research I believe they are Pangasius. Has any one else recieved them and what are you doing with them. My gf's English is not too good but as I understand it the idea is that we fatten them up and and sell them back for export/ They dont seem to be growing as fast as expected in the tanks. We have a small pond that needs weeding and is used to fatten fish caught in rivers but too small to eat at the time. Also does anyone know anything about the price of new fry and the price we might expect to get when they are big enough to sell

In my mates village near Kaset Wisa ,each household was provided with a built in concrete block 3mx1mx1m tank + catfish and pond weed to provide food for the family.

[chownah]

We were given 200 catfish around last July and put them in a pond. Only about 20 or 30 survived but we did have 3 or 4 big pla choen.....wonder if there is a connection? hahahhahh

We emptied the pond just before Christmas. I suggested restocking with a small number of fish since the water will stay low until June.....she said that it wouldn't work because when the weather is cold the fish don't eat. She might be wrong but then again she might be right. If she is right then it seems a strange time for the gov't to be handing out fish...any ideas on this?

Chownah

[phibunmike]

We were given 200 catfish around last July and put them in a pond. Only about 20 or 30 survived but we did have 3 or 4 big pla choen.....wonder if there is a connection? hahahhahh

We emptied the pond just before Christmas. I suggested restocking with a small number of fish since the water will stay low until June.....she said that it wouldn't work because when the weather is cold the fish don't eat. She might be wrong but then again she might be right. If she is right then it seems a strange time for the gov't to be handing out fish...any ideas on this?

Chownah

We have not been given any. One of my ponds is shallow and dries out at this time of year, but when the rain comes it fills up by itself and gets a population of catfish by itself. As it dries, we grovel in the mud with buckets and kids and catch them to eat - it's all rather good fun.

Maybe they are handing them out because their ponds are drying up too.

Cheers,

Mike

[macan]

Chownah, I think OP said that the fish were given out a couple of months ago which would probably be the last batches at the end of the spawning season (though some private hatcheries are producing all year round by manipulating environment and hormones).

Price at the moment is about 0.3 baht for small Pangasius fingerlings, market price around here is about 12 baht/kg.

Fish generally eat less in the cool season so it just depends how cold your pond gets so unless there is a very prolonged cold period and your pond is shaded or so deep that it doesnt get heated up during the day, it shouldnt get so cold that they stop feeding altogether. However since you mentioned that your pond is not full, small fish stocked in shallow water will be more vulnerable to predation

[mysterytrevor]

I have now done a lot of googling on this subject and discovered that in November 2005 the Bangkok Post covered a press release by the National Food Institute of Thailand which said they were instigating a program to supply small farmers Catfish as The Vietnamese had a healthy export trade with the fish fetching high prices in many countries and they could see potential for Thailand to tap into this market. Its just typical that the fish were dumped on small farmers and no provision was made for training on how to get the most from the fish. Most of my neighbours have decided that they will get them big enough then eat them or sell them on the local market and forget all about them. It seems to me we have been given a potential source of a steady income if handled correctly. For any one who wants to learn more try this website:-

http://worldofpangasius.com/?open=new&id=41

My problem at the moment is that all the males in my gfs family are away working or in the army and the pond needs sorting before the fish can go in. They are not growing rapidly enough in the tanks and weve lost about 30/40. However on the plus side weve gained another 200 from a neighbour who cant afford to buy more feed.

They need to get to 1.5/2 kilos per fish. If we get them to that size does anyone know how we sell themand to who as the website above recommends they go to the factory alive

[chownah]

I looked at the pangasius website and it is definitely not the kind of fish that we were given. All the catfish (pla dook) that I have seen in Thailand has a body whose cross section is round while the pangasius appears to have a more eliptical cross section with the large axis being verticle....also they filllet pangasius and I don't believe it would be possible to fillet any of the pla dook I have seen in Thailand. My wife says that she has seen these fish in the market but doesn't know their name.

Chownah

[macan]

Pangasius generally prefer murky water.

In Vietnam where it is a multi-million dollar industry they started growing them in the river in big cages with houses built on top in some cases, they have now moved most of the production to ponds next to the river and canals and are exchanging water at high rates every day due to the high densities of fish they are keeping. Early last year there was a big, predictable disease problem that wiped out many farms, processors were buying fish in Thailand and trucking them to Vietnam to try to meet their export orders.

Pangasius has never been very popular in Thailand, one reason may be that the fish cultured at reasonable density and typical feeding practices in ponds has an orange tint. Thai Union feedmill are promoting pangasius culture here now so if you want to get involved contact them through a local agent (feed shop that carries their product). There are a lot of hatcheries in Nakon Sawan area.

You'll get a better price selling your 200 fish in the local market than to a factory.

[macan]

Thai name is Pla Sawai, other related species are Pla Poh (more popular with white meat but grows slow in culture) and of course the giant cousin Pla Beuk.

The other day i saw that they are selling Sawai in Sizzler under its' farang name of Pacific Dory (makes it sound like a sea fish of course); I guess that's what they use for their fish and chips too.

[mysterytrevor]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Now I am totally confused. Guess I will just have to wait until March when I return to NST. Its just beyond me that they can instigate an obviously expensive programme and not even tell us what sort of fish we have and how to care for them.

[chownah]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Now I am totally confused. Guess I will just have to wait until March when I return to NST. Its just beyond me that they can instigate an obviously expensive programme and not even tell us what sort of fish we have and how to care for them.

It might be that you got plain ordinairy run of the mill pla dook in which case there is plenty of expertise locally everywhere in Thailand so no special instructions would be necessary.

Chownah