Lao PDR is a land locked country located within Southeast Asia and has a wide range of climatic environments. The country is composed of mountainous upland regions and lowland plains with a total area of approximately 236,800 km2. Upland areas constitute approximately 75% of the total area of the country, with the lowlands occupying approximately 60,000 km2. The country has 57 major rivers mainly running from the north to the south of the country. The lowland areas of Lao PDR are suitable for aquaculture, although aquaculture is practised in some of the upland areas.

Lao PDR has a monsoon season that lasts between May to October allowing rice cultivation in rainfed or irrigated paddies. Upland hill rice cultivation is also widely practised. During the monsoon season the Lao people obtain a significant amount of their nutrition from aquatic animals and fish. These are hunted in paddy fields and water bodies created by the monsoon rains. After the monsoon, the topography of the country is such that waters recede rapidly into the main river bodies and there is an extended dry season where many water bodies dry up completely. During this period there is a shortage of fish and aquatic products, although the Lao tradition of preserving fish in times of abundance compensates for this to some extent. Fish preservation techniques include: fermenting, drying, smoking and salting. Since fish is popular to the Lao people, it often commands a high market price, which makes the capture and culture of fish economically attractive.

Fish fry demand in the Lao PDR is high for stocking into both ponds and rice-fish systems, however fry/fingerling production is low. Most fry produced in Lao PDR originate from the Provincial government hatcheries, which have an overall production level of less than 15 million.

The species currently produced by Lao hatcheries include Common carp, Tilapia, Common silver Barb, Rohu, Mrigal, Bighead carp, Silver carp and Grass carp. There are at least six Puntius species indigenous to Lao PDR that show promise as aquaculture species. Besides the barbs, there are also several other possible species that may be suitable for hatchery production; these are: Pristolepis fasciatus (Lao name ‘Pa gah’), Giant gourami (Osphoronemus gouramy) and Snakeskin gourami (Trichogaster pectoralis).

The Lao Department of Livestock and Fisheries estimates that nationwide, demand for fish fingerlings is approximately 52 million. There are significant imports of fry and fingerlings from Thailand, Vietnam and China, but this still does not satisfy demand. A reflection of this demand is the high price that fry in Lao PDR can fetch relative to the surrounding countries (typically 50 – 300 % higher). The problem with fry and fingerling shortages is partly due to the lack of hatcheries in the country, but also due to the difficulties in communications between provinces. In this respect large centralised hatcheries are not particularly suitable for fry production due to the logistical difficulties with delivery to the farm locations. Small-scale hatcheries can be effective in producing low cost fry in the locations where fry/fingerlings are required.

An additional attraction of mini-hatcheries is that they are appropriate for low investment situations and thus present income generation opportunities for lower income farmers. As a result of this situation, the government of Lao PDR places a high priority on improving fry production from small-scale hatcheries in Lao PDR.

Small-scale hatcheries are an attractive development activity since they present relatively low risk to farmers and can return their investment quickly for the following reasons:

Small size results in low construction cost

Small size is easy to manage at family scale

They do not always require sophisticated equipment (pumps, aerators, electricity etc.)

The range of species that can be produced are not restricted by hatchery size

They can be located almost anywhere that has a suitable supply of water

They can be located close to the farmers that will purchase the fry 

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