Raising freshwater eels for export in hot sand areas

Starting the business in 2007, Mr. Le Ha Giang conducted research and decided to invest in raising freshwater eels because of passion. At that time, he renovated two approximately 1,600m2 wide ponds in Bac Ly, Dong Hoi City as a start. Working, learning, and drawing lessons from experience, he just wanted to make up for the loss of capital first, not mentioning any profit or loss.

Mr. Giang at that time only went to buy and collect small eels living naturally in streams and rivers because people caught them and brought them back to raise them. The eels were sellable after nearly five years of raising when the fish had weighed approximately 1 kg.

After nearly 10 years of raising this specialty, Mr. Giang changed his model from raising freshwater eels in earthen ponds to raising them in cement tanks and then to tarpaulin-lined ponds. There were years when the revenue exceeded VND 1 billion. At the end of 2016, a big flood swept through the area where Mr. Giang's family raised the eels. Floods tore down fences and walls protecting the eel farms, washing away nearly ten tons of freshwater eels ready to harvest. More than VND 3 billion drifted with the flood in just one night. The couple came back to the starting point empty-handed.

Not giving in to life's misfortunes, after a few months of resting for peace of mind, Mr. Giang resumed his unfulfilled dream. At the beginning of 2017, Mr. Giang and his wife traveled a long distance to Nha Trang to learn the experience of raising freshwater eels using new technology. To avoid floods, Mr. Giang chose coastal sandy areas to build a new farm and apply high technology in nursery procedure, raising eels in accordance with export standards.

The new farming technology was applied along with a model of cement tanks floating on the ground. The rearing area is covered with a glass roof to prevent heat and minimize light. The temperature of the water entering the farming area is not too hot or too cold. According to Mr. Giang, the difference here was that the ponds were covered to remain in the dark, limiting noise and light to the maximum. "In this way, the eels won’t be disturbed when eating by outside factors.”

Mr. Giang said that his high-tech freshwater eel farming model used feeds from clean industrial processing sources. Using omnivorous food sources might greatly affect the water source and made it difficult to control harmful bacteria.

Not only providing commercial freshwater eel meat, his company, Kim Long Vietnam Service Co., Ltd., also focuses on another service segment: supplying eel seeds to the market at present. Six ponds on the farm (each with a capacity of 30m3 of water) are used to nurse and raise fingerlings. Every year the company produces nearly 40,000 fingerlings and sells over 10,000 mature freshwater eels. It is known that the company's eel seeds are not only supplied to farming households in the province but also sold to the markets of Quang Tri, Ha Tinh, and Hai Phong. "Up to now, our revenue has reached approximately VND 4 billion. We are striving to reach VND 6 billion".

After nearly two years of production hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company is expanding production by doubling the number of ponds. The company has recently brought back 5,000 imported giant mottled eels for stocking in two lakes. After running the rearing procedure after a long break, the company has continued to import and release approximately 20,000 eel breeds raised in ten lakes to quickly meet the market demand. “Giant mottled eel is qualified for export to the Korean and Japanese markets. The total quantity of seeds we imported in this batch is 25,000. It is expected that by this New Year 40% of the batch will be exported with an output of 8-10 tons and estimated revenue of VND 4 billion," said Mr. Giang.