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Seahorse husbandry develops strongly in Khanh Hoa
Dong Thanh Hung Enterprise in the central province of Khanh Hoa is looking to export seahorses to new markets, building on its success in sending them to the US and France.
The company exports around 60,000 seahorses every year to these countries where they are used as aquarium pets or as traditional medicine.
It is among several companies in the province’s Nha Trang Town that are making good, easy money from raising seahorses to sell in the domestic market and for export, thanks to a research project carried out by the Institute of Oceanography.
Vietnam is home to seven of around 35 seahorse species, says Dr. Truong Si Ky of the institute.
The marine creatures are in demand for traditional medicines that are believed to enhance men’s virility, and cure infertility in women as well as other health problems.
Two decades ago, in 1990, local scientists started researching ways to breed seahorses.
Four years later they succeeded in breeding the creatures in captivity, including white, black, striped and thorny seahorses.
This was the first time the white and thorny seahorses were bred in the laboratory, says Ky.
In 2006, the institute farmed the seahorses in large numbers for commercial purpose.
In an effort to prevent extinction, the scientists have also released young seahorses to the wild, besides keeping cages of mature animals in the sea and in order to have them breed in the wild. The newborn animals then will live in their natural habitat.
Promising business
Ky says seahorse husbandry is a low-risk business with small investments and high profit.
The animals can be kept in a concrete aquarium. They feed on small shrimps and mollusks and can be sold as pets after three months.
After six to eight months, they can be sold to make traditional medicine or kept as breeders. They reproduce after 20 days to a month.
Ky says the institute has supplied between 5,000 and 10,000 seahorses every year to a French company that has an office in Ho Chi Minh City.
Seahorses that are sold as pets cost around US$1 apiece while the prices in other countries are much higher with no difference in quality, Ky said.
The Institute of Oceanography has transferred the knowhow to breed seahorses to Da Nang City’s Department of Science and Technology and the Phu Quoc Marine Reserve in Kien Giang Province. The two places are scheduled to breed the creatures by the end of this year.
The institute is also ready to supply the knowhow to any individual or entity that wants to breed and raise seahorses, Ky said.
Van Ky
thanhnien
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