Striped catfish - Supplemental feeds & feeding

Striped catfish are farmed intensively in many countries such as Viet Nam, India and Bangladesh. All striped catfish farms in Viet Nam use a high stocking density of 205 000±100 000 fingerlings per ha (Nguyen et al., 2004) and in recent years, this has been increased up to 480 000 fingerlings per ha (Phan et al., 2009). Natural food is important for the first days post-hatching, but is not considered important for the grow-out stage. Supplemental feeds are very important in striped catfish farming as they are a main source of nutrients for the growth of fish. Nguyen (2011) provides a comprehensive review of on-farm feed management practices for striped catfish in the Mekong River Delta, Viet Nam. The review shows that the feeds used in striped catfish farming, especially in Viet Nam can be categorized into two types: manufactured pelleted feeds (MPF) and farm-made feeds (FMF). The MPF are produced as floating feeds with different sizes and formulations that are suited to the size of the fish (Table 7). The FMF are sinking feeds and are prepared at the farm site using locally available ingredients (Table 8).

The feed usage in striped catfish production has changed over time. Recently, three types of grow-out feeding practices have been identified: the feeding of MPF, the feeding of FMF, and a combination of feeding MPF and FMF. A random survey of 109 grow-out farms in 2009 showed that 63.3, 17.4 and 19.3 percent of the farms applied MPF, FMF and a combination of MPF and FMF feeding, respectively (Nguyen, 2011).