Preserving and developing rare indigenous fish species

Ha Giang province is home to various large streams, rivers, and rapids that total more than 300 kilometers in length. A clean and abundant water supply provides an ideal habitat for aquatic creatures such as fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. There are six unique and precious indigenous fish species in this area, including vu carp, bangana lemassoni, chien, hemibagrus guttatus, spinibarbus caldwelli, and my fish, which were listed in Vietnam’s Red Data Book (1992, 2000 and 2007) at the sixth threat level.

Today, the wild site in Ha Giang for rare indigenous fishes to lay their eggs is nearly disappeared owing to the construction of dams to control water flow for irrigation and hydroelectricity projects. Additionally, the destruction of watershed forests altered the flow of water and the ecosystem, particularly impacting fish reproductive behavior. As a result, the distribution of these species has shifted significantly, and destructors' overexploitation of fish also affects the living habits and survival of rare fish.

From September 2018 to December 2021, the Ha Giang Provincial Aqua Center was implementing the topic: Preservation, conservation, and development of genetic resources of some aquatic species in Ha Giang province.

According to Mr. Do Tuan Anh, center staff and head of the top, the center selected fish individuals that met the center's criteria for proper growing, care, and management.

The research defined the pace of maturity and gonad development; doing studies on reproductive stimulation using various hormone dosages, fertilization, and incubation procedures. Density and raising environment of fish research.

260 anh vu carps, 250 bangana lemassoni fish, 262 spinibarbus caldwelli fish, and 279 my fish are being collected at the facility.

The center's personnel has achieved some results after three years of research. The most successful methods of artificial reproduction on these fishes were dry fertilizing and hatching eggs on plastic trays.

On fish species, dry fertilization had a success rate of 75%, whereas hatching eggs in plastic trays achieved a success rate of 65% and higher. All the stages were experimented in different environments and gained some initial success.

Mr. Nguyen An Tu, Deputy Director of Ha Giang Aqua Center, said that in addition to certain successes, there were some setbacks throughout the study process, such as domestication results producing a low rate of survival.

At all stages of the fish species' rearing process, the survival rate remains low. The commercial culture of the tested subjects resulted in poor survival rates, and weight targets for commercial fish species were not met...

In 2016, Ha Giang province released 7,000 hemibagrus guttatus and 3,000 chien breeding fish to restore the Lo River's aqua resources. The province released 2,000 hemibagrus guttatus and 1,000 chien breeding fish to the Gam river in the Bac Me district in 2017.

Successful breeding of rare indigenous fish species would pave the way for the long-term expansion of the total population of valuable species in the natural environment and developing economy, hence generating income from local fish specialties farming.