Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Estimation of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Effluent from the Striped Catfish Farming Sector in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

  • Report
  • Published:
AMBIO Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study an attempt is made to estimate nitrogen and phosphorus discharged to the environment from the striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) farming sector in the Mekong Delta (8°33′–10°55′N, 104°30′–106°50′E), South Vietnam. The sector accounted for 687,000 t production in 2007 and 1,094,879 t in 2008, with over 95% of the produce destined for export to over 100 countries. Commercial and farm-made feeds are used in catfish farming, currently the former being more predominant. Nitrogen discharge levels were similar for commercial feeds (median 46.0 kg/t fish) and farm-made feeds (median 46.8 kg/t fish); whilst, phosphorus discharge levels for commercial feeds (median 14.4 kg/t fish) were considerably lower than for farm-made feeds (median 18.4 kg/t fish). Based on the median nutrient discharge levels for commercial feeds, striped catfish production in the Mekong Delta discharged 31,602 t N and 9,893 t P, and 50,364 t N and 15,766 t P in 2007 and 2008, respectively. However, the amount of nutrients returned directly to the Mekong River may be substantially less than this as a significant proportion of the water used for catfish farming as well as the sludge is diverted to other agricultural farming systems. Striped catfish farming in the Mekong Delta compared favourably with other cultured species, irrespective of the type of feed used, when the total amounts of N and P discharged in the production of a tonne of production was estimated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackefors, H., and M. Enell. 1990. Discharge of nutrients from Swedish fish farming to adjacent sea areas. AMBIO 19: 28–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ackefors, H., and M. Enell. 1994. The release of nutrients and organic matter from aquaculture systems in Nordic countries. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 10: 225–241.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bosma, R.H., C.T.T. Hanh, and J. Potting. 2009. Environmental impact assessment of the pangasius sector in the Mekong Delta. Wageningen University, 50 pp.

  • Bureau, D.P., S.J. Gunther, and C.Y. Cho. 2003. Chemical composition and preliminary theoretical estimates of waste outputs of rainbow trout reared in commercial cage culture operations in Ontario. North American Journal of Aquaculture 65: 33–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cho, C.Y., and D.P. Bureau. 1998. Development of bioenergetic models and the Fish-PrFEQ software to estimate production, feeding ration and waste output in aquaculture. Aquatic Living Resources 11: 199–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cho, C.Y., J.D. Hynes, K.R. Wood, and H.K. Yoshida. 1991. Quantitation of fish culture wastes by biological (nutritional) and chemical (limnological) methods: The development of high nutrient dense (HND) diets. In Nutritional strategies and aquaculture waste. Proceedings of the first international symposium on nutritional strategies in management of aquaculture waste, ed. C.B. Cowey, and C.Y. Cho. Guelph, Ontario: Fish Nutrition Research Laboratory, University of Guelph.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho, C.Y., J.D. Hynes, K.R. Wood, and H.K. Yoshida. 1994. Development of high-nutrient-dense, low- pollution diets and prediction of aquaculture wastes using biological approaches. Aquaculture 124: 293–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, S.R., V.J. Coles, A. Subramanium, and P.L. Yager. 2007. Seasonal variations in the Amazon plume-related atmospheric carbon sink. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 21 (GB3014).

  • Corsin, F. 2007. Dialogue on catfish industry aims for sustainability through consensus and certification. Catch and Culture 13(2): 18–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • d’Orbcastel, E.R., J.P. Blancheton, T. Boujard, J. Aubin, Y. Moutounet, C. Przybyla, and A. Belaund. 2008. Comparison of two methods for evaluating waste of a flow through trout farm. Aquaculture 274: 72–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Silva, S.S., and T.A. Anderson. 1996. Fish nutrition in aquaculture, 256. UK: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Silva, S.S., and F.B. Davy. 2009. Aquaculture successes in Asia: Contribution to sustained development and poverty alleviation. In Success stories in Asian aquaculture, ed. S.S. De Silva, and F.B. Davy, 1–14. The Netherlands: Springer, IDRC, NACA.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Silva, S.S., and G.M. Turchini. 2008. Towards understanding the impacts of the pet food industry on world fish and seafood supplies. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 21: 459–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Aquaculture. 2008. Report on the implementation progress of the 2008 plan, and major solutions for implementation of the 2009 plan for the aquaculture sector. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 7 pp (in Vietnamese).

  • Dudgeon, D. 2000. Riverine biodiversity in Asia: A challenge to conservation biology. Hydrobiologia 418: 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumas, A., C.F.M. de Lange, and D.P. Bureau. 2007. Quantitative description of body composition and rates of nutrient deposition in rainbow trout (Onccorhynchus mykiss). Aquaculture 273: 139–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO. 2008. The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2008, 176. Rome: FAO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandesa, M., P. Lauera, A. Cheshirea, and M. Angovec. 2007. Preliminary model of nitrogen loads from southern bluefin tuna aquaculture. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54: 1321–1332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Globefish. 2009. Pangasius market report, 3 pp.

  • Goddard, S. 1996. Feed management in intensive aquaculture. New York, USA: Chapman & Hall. 194 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gooley, G.J., S.S. De Silva, P.W. Hon, L.J. McKinnon, and B.A. Ingram. 2000. Cage aquaculture in Australia: A developed country perspective with reference to integrated aquaculture development within inland Australia. In Cage aquaculture in Asia: Proceedings of the first international symposium on cage aquaculture in Asia, ed. I.C. Liao, and C.K. Lin, 21–37. Bangkok, Thailand: Asian Fisheries Society, Manila and World Aquaculture Society-Southeast Asian Chapter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gooley, G.J., L.J. McKinnon, B.A. Ingram, and R. Gasior. 2001a. Multiple use of farmwater to produce fish, 98. Barton, ACT, Australia: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gooley, G.J., S.S. De Silva, B.A. Ingram, L.J. McKinnon, F.M. Gavine, and W. Dalton. 2001b. Cage culture of finfish in Australian lakes and reservoirs—A pilot scale case study of biological, environmental and economic viability. In Reservoir and culture-based fisheries; biology and management. Proceedings of the international workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand from 15–18 February 2000. ACIAR Proceedings No. 98, ed. S.S. De Silva, 328–346. Canberra, Australia: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo, L., and Z. Li. 2003. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus from fish cage-culture on the communities of a shallow lake in middle Yangtze River basin of China. Aquaculture 226: 201–212.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, L., Z. Li, P. Xie, and L. Ni. 2009. Assessment effects of cage culture on nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in relation to fallowing in a shallow lake in China. Aquaculture International 17: 229–241.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, B.A. 1999. A phosphorus model for trout farming in the Goulburn-Broken catchment. In Towards best practice in land-based salmonid farming: Options for treatment, re-use and disposal of effluent, ed. B.A. Ingram, 26–41. Alexandra, VIC, Australia: Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahan, P., T. Watanabe, S. Satoh, and V. Kiron. 2002. A laboratory-based assessment of phosphorus and nitrogen loading from currently available commercial carp feeds. Fisheries Science 68: 579–586.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, L.A., J. Stellwagen, and A. Bergheim. 1996. Waste loadings from a freshwater Atlantic salmon farm in Scotland. Journal American Water Resource Association 32: 1017–1025.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kiessling, A. 2009. Feed—The key to sustainable fish farming. In: Fisheries, sustainability and development. Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA). pp. 303–322.

  • Lall, S.P. 1991. Digestibility, metabolism and excretion of dietary phosphorus in fish. In Nutritional strategies and aquaculture waste, ed. C.B. Cowey, and C.Y. Cho, 21–36. Guelph, ON, Canada: University of Guelph.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanari, D., E. Dagaro, and R. Ballestrazzi. 1995. Dietary N and P levels, effluent water characteristics and performance in rainbow trout. Water Science and Technology 31: 157–165.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, K.M.Y., J.C.W. Chu, and R.S.S. Wu. 1999. Nitrogen budget for the areolated grouper Epinephelus areolatus cultured under laboratory conditions and in open-sea cages. Marine Ecology Progress Series 186: 271–281.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lupatsch, I., and G.W. Kissil. 1998. Predicting aquaculture waste from gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) culture using a nutritional approach. Aquatic Living Resources 11: 265–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NACA. 2009. Better Management Practices (BMPs) for Striped Catfish (Tra catfish) Farming Practices in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, 75 pp. http://library.enaca.org/inland/catfishbmps/catfish_bmp_v2.pdf.org/inland/catfishbmps/.

  • Naylor, R.L., R.J. Goldburg, H. Mooney, M. Beveridge, J. Clay, C. Folke, N. Kautsky, J. Lubchenco, J. Primavera, and M. Williams. 1998. Nature’s subsidies to shrimp and salmon farming. Science 282: 883–884.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naylor, R.L., R.J. Goldburg, J. Primavera, N. Kautsky, M. Beveridge, J. Clay, C. Folke, J. Lubchenco, H. Mooney, and M. Troell. 2000. Effect of aquaculture on world fish supplies. Nature 405: 1017–1024.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naylor, R.L., S.L. Williams, and D.R. Strong. 2001. Aquaculture—a gateway for exotic species. Science 294: 1655–1666.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naylor, R.L., R.W. Hardy, D.P. Bureau, A. Chiu, M. Elliot, et al. 2009. Feeding aquaculture in an era of finite resources. PNAS 106 (36): 15103–15110. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0905235106.

  • Neubacher, H. 2009. Pangasius: Creating a benchmark. Fishfarming International, June 2009, 17 pp.

  • New, M. 1991. Compound feeds—world view. Fish Farmer, March/April 1991, pp. 39–46.

  • New, M. 1997. Aquaculture and the capture fisheries-balancing the scales. World Aquaculture 28: 11–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, P.T., and D.T.H. Oanh. 2009. Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) aquaculture in Viet Nam: An unprecedented development within a decade. In Success stories in Asian aquaculture, ed. S.S. De Silva, and F.B. Davy, 133–150. The Netherlands: Springer, IDRC, NACA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phan, L.T., T.M. Bui, T.T.T. Nguyen, G.J. Gooley, B.A. Ingram, H.V. Nguyen, P.T. Nguyen, and S.S. De Silva. 2009. Current status of farming practices of striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Aquaculture 296: 227–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sapkota, A., A.R. Sapkota, M. Kucharski, J. Burke, S. MvKinenzie, P. Walker, and R. Lawrence. 2009. Aquaculture practices and potential human health risks: Current knowledge and future priorities. Environment International 34: 1215–1226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schreckenbach, K., R. Knosche, and K. Ebert. 2001. Nutrient and energy content of freshwater fishes. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 17: 142–144.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sodhi, N.S., L.P. Koh, B.W. Brook, and P.K.L. Ng. 2004. Southeast Asian biodiversity: An impending disaster. Trends in Ecology and Environment 19: 654–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subasinghe, S., D. Soto, and J. Jia. 2009. Global aquaculture and its role in sustainable development. Reviews in Aquaculture 1: 2–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sub-Institute for Fisheries Economics and Planning in Southern Vietnam. 2009. Project on development planning for catfish production and consumption in the Mekong Delta up to 2010 and strategic planning up to 2020. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Department of Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 124 pp.

  • Subramanium, A., P.L. Yager, E.J. Carpenter, C. Mahaffey, K. Björkman, et al. 2008. Amazon River enhances diazotrophy and carbon sequestration in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105: 10460–10465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Truong, V.T. 2003. A draft inception report on integrated assessment of trade liberalization in rice sector, Vietnam. HaNoi, Vietnam: UNEP. 28 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umesh, R.N., A.B. Chandra Mohan, G. Ravibabu, P.A. Padiyar, M.J. Phillips, C.V. Mohan, and B. Vishnu Bhat. 2009. Implementation of better management practices by empowering small-scale farmers through a cluster-based approach: The case of shrimp farmers in India. In Success stories in Asian aquaculture, ed. S.S. De Silva, and F.B. Davy, 43–65. The Netherlands: Springer, IDRC, NACA.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Zalinge, N.P., P. Degen, P. Pongsiri, S. Nuov, J.G. Jensen, V.H. Nguyen, and X. Choulamany. 2004. The Mekong River system. In Proceedings of the second international symposium on the management of large rivers for fisheries, ed. R.L. Welcomme, and T. Petr, 335–357. Bangkok, Thailand: RAP Publication 2004/16, Vol. 1. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

  • Watanabe, T., P. Jahan, S. Satoh, and V. Kiron. 1999. Total phosphorus loading onto the water environment from common carp fed commercial diets. Fisheries Science 65: 712–716.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wijkstrom, U.N., and M.B. New. 1989. Fish for feed: A help or a hindrance to aquaculture in 2000? INFOFISH International 6(89): 48–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Wild Life Mediterranean Programme. 2005. Risk on local fish populations and ecosystems posed by the use of imported feed fish by the tuna farming industry in the Mediterranean. Barcelona, Spain, 11 pp.

  • Yi, Y., D.R. Yuan, N.T. Phuong, T.Q. Phu, C.K. Lin, and J.S. Diana. 2004. Environmental impacts of cage culture for catfish in Hongngu, Vietnam. In Twenty-first annual technical report, ed. R. Harris, and EgnaH CourterI, 157–168. Oregon State University, Oregon, USA: Aquaculture CRSP.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was undertaken as a component of the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) program between the Governments of Vietnam and Australia, funded through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The current project is a component of the project “Development of better management practices for catfish farming in the Mekong Delta (VIE 001/07)”. We are grateful to the financial support provided by AusAID. Most of all, our thanks are due to numerous farmers who were very willingly forthcoming with information and provided access to their records unreservedly. We value their friendship and cooperation. We also wish our thanks to other colleagues who were involved in this project, in particular Drs. Nguyen Van Hao, Phan Than Lam and Thuy T.T. Nguyen.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), PO Box 1040, Kasetsart Post Office, Bangkok, 10903, Thailand

    Sena S. De Silva

  2. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Warrnambool, VIC, Australia

    Sena S. De Silva & Giovanni M. Turchini

  3. Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Brett A. Ingram & Geoff J. Gooley

  4. College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

    Phuong T. Nguyen & Tam M. Bui

Authors
  1. Sena S. De Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brett A. Ingram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Phuong T. Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tam M. Bui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Geoff J. Gooley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Giovanni M. Turchini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sena S. De Silva.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

De Silva, S.S., Ingram, B.A., Nguyen, P.T. et al. Estimation of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Effluent from the Striped Catfish Farming Sector in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. AMBIO 39, 504–514 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0072-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0072-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation