Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Completion Report

VIE062/04
Intensive In-pond Raceway Production
of Marine Finfish

MS10: FINAL PERIOD REPORT 2
Table of Contents

1. Institute Information ___________________________________________________ 3
2. Project Abstract _______________________________________________________ 4
3. Executive Summary ____________________________________________________ 4
4. Introduction & Background _____________________________________________ 5
5. Progress to Date _______________________________________________________ 6
5.1 Implementation Highlights ________________________________________________ 6
5.2 Smallholder Benefits______________________________________________________ 7
5.3 Capacity Building ________________________________________________________ 7
5.4 Publicity________________________________________________________________ 8

15 April 2007
Completion date (revised)
December 2007
Reporting period
01 March 2007 – December 2007

Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
Name:
Mr Michael Burke
Telephone:
+61 7 34002051
Position:
Biologist
Fax:
+61 7 34083535
Organisation
DPI&F
Email:
[email protected]

In Australia: Administrative contact
Name:
Michelle Sinn
Telephone:
+61 7 3346 2711
Position:
Senior Planning Officer,
R&D Coordination
Fax:

nursery capacity was developed using the same principles. Grow-out of finfish in
raceways to market size was investigated in the Australian component of the research
where researchers from the Queensland DPI&F provided expertise in systems
management, water quality management and waste remediation. Species selected for
study included cobia, barramundi, mulloway and whiting. All activities were mindful of
environmental sustainability issues and strategies were investigated to limit water
discharge. Information from these activities was used to train staff from the UoF, its
students, industry and other relevant stakeholders. This project encouraged active
involvement and contribution of different stakeholders to make this research highly
relevant and applicable to the local aquaculture industries.
3. Executive Summary
The market appraisal for mulloway (Argyrosomus hololepidotus) produced from
earlier trials identified a market for larger fish for the local fillet market, so the final
production trial at BIARC (Australian component) was to evaluate the suitability of
raceways for extended grow-out of fish to 1.5 kg. During the period 22/02/2007 –
30/07/2007 mulloway grew from 930 g to 1333 g in the smaller (3.6 m
3
nursery)
raceways at a harvest density of 55 kg/m
3
. During the same period, mulloway in the
larger (20m
3
) raceways grew from 826 g to 1228 g, and from 1077 g to 1412 g in
Raceways 5 and 6, respectively. Food Conversion Ratios during this period were poor
(av. 2.89); however, it is a known trait of this species to grow slowly beyond 1kg in
culture systems and this slow growth was not necessarily a reflection of the performance
of the raceways. In fact, our trials confirmed fish husbandry (feeding, monitoring,
harvesting) is easily managed in raceways either as a nursery system, as an intermediate
grow-out system, or as an on-growing system.

4. Introduction & Background
Aquaculture plays an important role in the development of Vietnam’s economy and
has been widely considered as an effective means for poverty alleviation by the FAO.
The country aims to produce 2 million tons of aquaculture products, mainly with marine
species, by 2010. This ambitious target is unlikely to be achievable unless cost-effective
methods of nursing are developed to produce large number of large fingerlings for
stocking in sea cages and coastal ponds. As tank production of large fingerlings is highly
costly, other option such as nursing in earthern ponds, hapas and floating raceways
should be considered. In this regard, the floating raceway technology has a number of
unique advantages over all the other systems, including effective management, high
productivity and high level of biosecurity.
In Queensland marine fish farming in sea cages is considered as damaging to coral
reefs and other sensitive aquatic habitats. New sustainable yet profitable land based
production methods are thus in need for development. Tank based marine recirculation
facilities are cost prohibitive and would fail to take advantage of Queensland’s favourable
climate and existing pond aquaculture infrastructure. The combination of floating
raceways and bioremediation would eventually result in “low-discharge” or even “zero-
discharge” system for coastal aquaculture.
This CARD project combines the innovative design of floating raceways (FRs) with
the concept of bioremediation. FRs, either made of plastic or cheap materials, have been
trialled successfully in Japan, Australia and US. Through this project, different local
materials have been used to design and built raceways, at both commercial and
experimental scales for trials. Target species include high-value indigenous fish such as
barramundi, whiting, snapper, cobia, Murray cod, etc. The project also emphasizes on
improving capacity of the Vietnamese institutions through study tours, training courses
and research internships. Information from the project once available is immediately
disseminated to local farmers and the industry through extension workshop. The system
is designed in a format that allows it to be used by farmers with no major change of their
existing ponds. This project is expected to help boost production of marine fish
fingerlings and better use the existing shrimp ponds, many of which are abandoned in

MSc study.
• An exhibition booth (No. 62) was organized at the Asian Pacific 2007
Aquaculture Conference in Hanoi in August 2007 to disseminate project outcomes
to local and international farmers, scientists, aquaculture development officers.
Not only brochures, but also models of different raceway designs were made and
shown at the booth, attracting a large audience during the conference.
• One paper was presented at the international IMOLA workshop in late April 2007
at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry; and published in the workshop
proceeding. One paper was published in the Fisheries Science and Technology
Journal in Vietnam, prior to the Asian Pacific 2007 Aquaculture Conference in
Hanoi. One presentation on the results of the zero-discharge trial was presented at
this conference.
• Final Report is prepared for CARD evaluation
• Activities to promote floating raceway technology are continued, mostly in the
form of free consultancy to interested parties and individuals. A workshop was
organized in collaboration with the Khanh Hoa Fisheries Extension Center for 50
farmers in Cam Ranh Province in early August 2007. 7
5.2 Smallholder Benefits
In Australia:
• Integrated Recycle International Ltd (IRI) has adopted a modified raceway
design for a new Queensland enterprise that aims to produce fish in wastewater
for fishmeal production. The raceway design is based on the low-cost HDPE
configuration developed in this CARD project. The IRI venture will be
established at Hervey Bay on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, and will utilise water
stored in municipal tertiary treated effluent ponds managed by the local
government authority. Preliminary trials have identified a suitable native fish
candidate, and work has commenced in building floating pontoon infrastructure.

as well as travelled to several aquaculture sites around Ho Chi Min City to visit
barramundi hatcheries, grouper and cobia sea cage sites to expand industrial
applications of research outcomes.

In Vietnam
• One staff of the Faculty of Aquaculture, Nha Trang University – Mr. Ngo Van
Manh was trained at MSc level. The Project Secretary – Ms. Banh Thi Quyen

8
Quyen, thanks to good research experience in the CARD project has been
granted an MSc scholarship by V.L.I.R. to study at Gent University in Belgium
from September 2007. The Project Technician – Mr. Huynh Kim Khanh has
now joined the MSc program in Aquaculture at Nha Trang University. Finally,
the Vietnamese Project Leader, Dr. Hoang Tung is promoted to Associate
Professor in late 2007.
• The technology has been uptaken by the Khanh Hoa Fisheries Extension Center
and from now on they can further develop or disseminate it independently.

5.4 Publicity
• The demonstration of marine fish (mulloway and whiting) growout at high
densities in raceways at the trial site at BIARC continued to attract attention of
visiting research institutions and commercial aquaculture operators. Extension
of the technology has continued with project staff delivering presentations at the
AAQ (Aquaculture Association of Queensland) Conference in July 2007 and
during several site visits to BIARC. The CARD project and raceway
infrastructure was highlighted during an official tour of BIARC following
Australasian Aquaculture Conference 2008.
• Australian Project Leader, Michael Burke, attended and presented project data
at the World Aquaculture Society Conference in Hanoi in August 2007.
• The Vietnamese Project Leader, Dr Hoang Tung presented three presentations at

evaluating waste collection sumps within raceways, seaweed biofiltration and the use of
bacterial-based ‘biofloc’ treatment to progress towards zero water discharge. Results
were reported in MS Report No. 5.
Similarly, in Vietnam an integrated model with intensive nursing of marine fish in
floating raceways and low-density prawn farming in the reservoir pond was developed
and tested. Results showed that pond water quality was good and stable with no exchange
for four months during which several batches of barramundi, grouper and cobia were
nursed in raceways. The cultured prawns reached premium size after four months of
culture with high feeding efficiency. Other emerging challenges such as predation of
escaped fish from the raceways, difficulties in promoting Artemia biomass culture in the
reservoir pond and possible technical damage of the air supply system were identified and
addressed. This current study establishes important steps to further development of the
proposing integrated model, which allows water reuse and thus imposes no environmental
impacts on the surrounding environment. Results were reported in MS Report No. 5.

6.2 Gender and Social Issues
In Vietnam daily management of the nursing system showed that the system
requires continuous attention rather than hard works. This may facilitate further
involvement of women in aquaculture. Within the scope of the project alone two ladies
are involved in experimental works. However, high level of intensification and high
productivity of this nursing system will limit the number of farms to adopt it. The social
benefits should be considered as more quality fingerlings are made available to fish
farmers.

7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues
7.1 Issues and Constraints
• Due to increasing competitive pressures from cheap imported products, many
Queensland farmers are looking to make better use of existing farm infrastructures
through growing complementary species. The use of floating raceways as part of
an integrated grow-out system should allow farmers to take advantage of multiple

success of these companies, particularly Australis and Ben Tre Seed Production
Center will draw in substantial interest of other fingerling producers.
8. Next Critical Steps
In Vietnam (beyond CARD project)
• Further promote the developed technology through publication and teaching at
university. Conduct research on the beneficial effect of flow rate on growth rate to
optimize raceway design for particularly important fish species.
• Look for financial supports so that R&D works will be continued to (i) apply
floating raceway technology into Pangasius catfish nursing and grow-out, (ii)
further develop a zero-discharged integrated system for coastal area using floating
raceway and bioremediation technologies.

In Australia (beyond CARD project)
• Consolidate relevant data from previous milestone reports to produce a manual on
the use of floating raceways for fish production.
• Continue to promote floating raceway technology in Australia.
9. Conclusion
Project has been completed according to plans in both Australia and Vietnam.