Pangasius, it is!
Door: summerschoolvietnam
Blijf op de hoogte en volg summerschool
15 Juli 2011 | Vietnam, Can Tho
Since the last update, we traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho. This bustrip gave us a first view on the enormous Mekong River delta and its fish farms, nice!
On arrival in Can Tho we paid a visit to Can Tho University (CTU), who arranged all the Pangasius farm visits for the Summer School. For which we are very grateful.
At CTU we were welcomed by Mr. Lam a PhD student for the SEAT project (http://seatglobal.eu/), which deals with the sustainability of trade of aquaculture products from developing countries to Europe. Mr Lam gave a presentation about Pangasius value chain with a lot of details on the farm economics. Furthermore, he showed a movie about the whole pangasius value chain, which was a great preparation for the next few days. In the evening, we discovered the Vietnamese kitchen with dr. Roel Bosma, or at least the guys did, when they were offered a special Vietnamese drink: vodka with turtle blood (the turtle was a farmed freshwater species).
On Wednesday, mr. Hai, our translator and guide for the rest of the week, picked us up at 8 am to visit the first farms. The minivan made a 30 minute drive, and we had to walk for another 15 minutes along a dirt road connecting different farms. All farmers were very open and willing to answer all our questions.
The first farmer had a medium size farm, with 6 ponds totalling 3 ha. and 8 employees. Next to interviewing the farmer we could walk around and we saw how the fish is checked on the quality, parasites and chemical residues before harvesting.
The second and third farm were much smaller family owned farms and consisted of only 1 pond. Interestingly, the second farmer said he was GlobalGAP certified, however unfortunately it was not possible to see the documentation. This was an issue we encountered more often during our visits. We continued the day with a boat trip on the Mekong, and a lunch with different fish from the Mekong including Pangasius. Finally we visited a nursery, to get an insight in how the different players of the value chain are linked. During the evening we continued our culinary explorations with with mr. Nicolas Privet from Fresh Studio, eating crocodile and rat, both were surprisingly tasty!
On Thursday, the day started with a visit to CPP Feed Company, a medium size company with a production of 40,000 tones. They had a test-site for the efficiency and quality of their products. After, we took a small boat to an island in the Mekong, where a farm was established. The guys were totally happy that they could help with the feeding of the panga. Because of the successfull food-experiences of the last evening, we went to the same restaurant on the riverside and tried now little ducks as well! We went home on motorbikes, a typical, widely used Vietnamese vehicle, to make the evening complete.
On Friday morning we visited one of the nine farms of a large vertically integrated compnay, which also had a processor and feed company on this side. The cooperation was GlobalGap certified. The whole production site was modern and massive with many workers. After, we visited a family-based hatchery, and the contrast with the larger cooperation could not have been bigger. At the family-based companies, you see often some side-activites, like keeping ducks, and the families are living on their farms.
We gave all farmers typical dutch (mini) wooden shoes and some mints the presents were received with happiness.
This Friday afternoon we have used to relax a little. Due to the great schedule, we did not have time to sleep a lot and combined with the jetlag and all new impressions everyone needed a rest. At the other hand, we are also an attraction for the Vietnamese, as big white giants and with our Nigerian student, Paul, many Vietnamese like to touch his skin.
This weekend we will visit a floating market, work on the report and probably enjoy a karaoke bar, before we leave to Soc Trang Province to visit the shrimp value chain!
So far it has been a great first week full of new impressions and usefull visits to farms and supply companies of the Pangasius sector. We would like to thank all our supporters who made this summer school financially possible: Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (Inititatief Duurzame Handel - IDH), Coppens International BV, Wageningen University Fund, and the MSc study ‘Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management’.
On arrival in Can Tho we paid a visit to Can Tho University (CTU), who arranged all the Pangasius farm visits for the Summer School. For which we are very grateful.
At CTU we were welcomed by Mr. Lam a PhD student for the SEAT project (http://seatglobal.eu/), which deals with the sustainability of trade of aquaculture products from developing countries to Europe. Mr Lam gave a presentation about Pangasius value chain with a lot of details on the farm economics. Furthermore, he showed a movie about the whole pangasius value chain, which was a great preparation for the next few days. In the evening, we discovered the Vietnamese kitchen with dr. Roel Bosma, or at least the guys did, when they were offered a special Vietnamese drink: vodka with turtle blood (the turtle was a farmed freshwater species).
On Wednesday, mr. Hai, our translator and guide for the rest of the week, picked us up at 8 am to visit the first farms. The minivan made a 30 minute drive, and we had to walk for another 15 minutes along a dirt road connecting different farms. All farmers were very open and willing to answer all our questions.
The first farmer had a medium size farm, with 6 ponds totalling 3 ha. and 8 employees. Next to interviewing the farmer we could walk around and we saw how the fish is checked on the quality, parasites and chemical residues before harvesting.
The second and third farm were much smaller family owned farms and consisted of only 1 pond. Interestingly, the second farmer said he was GlobalGAP certified, however unfortunately it was not possible to see the documentation. This was an issue we encountered more often during our visits. We continued the day with a boat trip on the Mekong, and a lunch with different fish from the Mekong including Pangasius. Finally we visited a nursery, to get an insight in how the different players of the value chain are linked. During the evening we continued our culinary explorations with with mr. Nicolas Privet from Fresh Studio, eating crocodile and rat, both were surprisingly tasty!
On Thursday, the day started with a visit to CPP Feed Company, a medium size company with a production of 40,000 tones. They had a test-site for the efficiency and quality of their products. After, we took a small boat to an island in the Mekong, where a farm was established. The guys were totally happy that they could help with the feeding of the panga. Because of the successfull food-experiences of the last evening, we went to the same restaurant on the riverside and tried now little ducks as well! We went home on motorbikes, a typical, widely used Vietnamese vehicle, to make the evening complete.
On Friday morning we visited one of the nine farms of a large vertically integrated compnay, which also had a processor and feed company on this side. The cooperation was GlobalGap certified. The whole production site was modern and massive with many workers. After, we visited a family-based hatchery, and the contrast with the larger cooperation could not have been bigger. At the family-based companies, you see often some side-activites, like keeping ducks, and the families are living on their farms.
We gave all farmers typical dutch (mini) wooden shoes and some mints the presents were received with happiness.
This Friday afternoon we have used to relax a little. Due to the great schedule, we did not have time to sleep a lot and combined with the jetlag and all new impressions everyone needed a rest. At the other hand, we are also an attraction for the Vietnamese, as big white giants and with our Nigerian student, Paul, many Vietnamese like to touch his skin.
This weekend we will visit a floating market, work on the report and probably enjoy a karaoke bar, before we leave to Soc Trang Province to visit the shrimp value chain!
So far it has been a great first week full of new impressions and usefull visits to farms and supply companies of the Pangasius sector. We would like to thank all our supporters who made this summer school financially possible: Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (Inititatief Duurzame Handel - IDH), Coppens International BV, Wageningen University Fund, and the MSc study ‘Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management’.
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16 Juli 2011 - 08:51
Linda:
Hey guys (and dolls),
It reads as a very interesting story! I have the impression you all get a lot of information about the reality of fish farming.
I wish you all an educational interesting continuation of your journey. In case you would meet Lam Anh again, say hello from me!
Cheers,
Linda
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