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7 - FisheriesTable 5. Freshwater aquaculture production in the LMB (based on latest available statistics 1997-2001)Number of households Estimated annual Estimated value ($) 1engaged in aquaculture production (tonnes)Thailand >156,000 33,521 2 +30,000 3 20,400,000 4Lao PDR 55,400 5 5,378 6 7,000,000Cambodia 14,100 7 17,200,000Viet Nam 1,606,000 – 1,873,000 8 171,570 9 200,000,000Total 255,569 244,600,000Notes: 1: This value is the theoretical cash value of production and does not reflect the actual income/expenditure on aquatic resources; 2: DOF 1997 official production statistics for NE Thailand; 3: Estimatedunreported small-scale aquaculture production; 4: Estimated from 1997 DOF data on the averagefreshwater fish price of Baht 27/kg and 1997 annual production figures and an exchange rate of 1US$=Baht45; 5: Lao Agricultural Census, 1998/99. Steering Committee for the Agricultural Census. AgriculturalCensus Office. Vientiane, February 2000 ; 6: Pond production estimated as: estimated pond area x averageproductivity 800 kg/ha, rice fish culture area x 120 kg/ha. 7: Official DOF figures for 1998; 8: Le Than Luu2001; 9: The figure excludes shrimp production – in 2000 there were 82,656 tonnes, 191,516 ha and79.1% of the total productivity 0.432 t/ha/year in the Mekong Delta region.Source: Phillips 2002Eighty thousand hectares are presently underrice-fish culture. Silver barb, common carp,silver carp, tilapia, Indian carps, climbingperch (Anabas testudineus), and snakeskingourami (Trichogaster pectoralis) are mostfrequently stocked in rice-fish systems. Themean annual production is 0.37 tonnes perhectare. 136 Fish are often held in the rice fieldsfor two or three successive rice crops.There are nearly 5,000 fish cages in the watersof the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, rangingfrom 50 to 400 m 2 in size. River catfish,Feeding fish in cagessnakehead, red-tail tin foil barb (Barbonymusaltus), silver barb and common carp are the common species reared in these cages. Cages are mostoften stocked with wild captured fry or juveniles. Fish are fed wet sticky balls of mixed rice bran,broken rice, trash fish and vegetables. Fish are cultured for 10 to 14 months and yields range from80 to 120 kg/m 3 . Cage culture of high value species requires investment levels beyond the reach ofpoor and marginal farmers.The government of Viet Nam has recently begun promoting giant freshwater prawn(Macrobrachium rosenbergii) culture in the Mekong Delta. In 1999, there were 2,940 hectares ofMacrobrachium ponds, typically 50 – 200 m 2 in area and stocked with 1 – 5 post larvae persquare metre. There were also 6,730 hectares of rice-prawn plots, stocked with 1 – 2 wild-caughtpost larvae per square metre. In ponds, Macrobrachium are fed a mixture of rice bran, brokenrice, fishmeal or trash fish. No feed is provided in rice-prawn systems. Mean annual productionin 1999 was 0.33 tonnes per hectare. 137 Present giant freshwater prawn production is about 5,000tonnes per year, but the government of Viet Nam has set a target of 60,000 tonnes by the year2010. 138121