Hung Vuong Corporation processes some 800 tonnes of pangasius per day.

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Final Public Comment Period Begins
The Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue is in the final stage of creating standards for responsible pangasius farming. Review the latest version of the standards document and then give us your feedback. The deadline for providing input is January 20, 2010. The Dialogue's responses to feedback received during the first comment period will be posted here soon.

Interested in participating in the Dialogue?
Fill out our sign-up form
or contact contact Senior Aquaculture Advisor Dr. Flavio Corsin 
flavio.corsin@gmail.com or +84-912-776993.

Aquaculture
Pangasius

The farming of pangasius - mainly tra (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) and basa (Pangasius bocourti) - is one of the fastest growing types of aquaculture in the world. In Vietnam, where 90 percent of pangasius farming occurs, 1.1 million tons of pangasius were produced in 2008 - a goal the country had set for 2010. Global production of pangasius was just 10,000 tons in 1995.

The growth in pangasius aquaculture is driven, in large part, by the dramatic increased demand for tra and basa in the marketplace. Pangasius is sold to more than 130 countries globally, mainly in the form of white filets. The United States used to be the major market for tra and basa but that has changed over the past few years, as the United States' share of exported pangasius has decreased from 80 percent to 4 percent. European Union countries now dominate the export market, with a share of 35 percent.

Main issues related to pangasius aquaculture

The rapid growth of the pangasius aquaculture industry has raised a number of environmental and social concerns. Eight key issues were identified during the first meeting of the Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue:

1. Legal - Farms are sometimes constructed and/or operated outside the legal framework for addressing environmental, social and food safety issues of relevance to the area where the farming occurs
2. Land use and water use - As new farms are established, sensitive habitat can be destroyed and water often is diverted, which can affect other water users and the environment
3. Water pollution and waste management - Excess waste can pollute the water and negatively affect plant and animal habitat 
4. Genetics and biodiversity - Pangasius that escape from aquaculture facilities may compete with wild fish and affect ecosystems, especially in areas where pangasius is not yet established
5. Feed management - Use of fishmeal, fish oil and trash-fish as pangasius feed is resulting in depletion of food sources that other fish rely on. Also, feeding trash-fish to pangasius can cause unsustainable harvesting and water pollution
6. Health management, veterinary medicines and chemicals - Pangasius farms are prone to health problems that can impact farmed and wild stocks. Also, the inappropriate use of veterinary medicines and chemicals can have unintended consequences on the environment and human health, such as antibiotic resistance and unsafe products.
7. Social responsibility/user conflicts - Large numbers of workers are employed on pangasius farms and in processing plants, placing labor practices and worker rights under public scrutiny. Also, conflicts can arise among users of the shared resources

Our solution

WWF's primary approach to minimizing the main issues associated with pangasius aquaculture is to develop measurable, performance-based standards for certifying pangasius aquaculture producers. This process began in September 2007 in Vietnam when the first meeting of the Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue was held. The Dialogue includes more than 400 pangasius farmers, processors, exporters, traders, retailers, feed and chemical manufacturers, seed suppliers, government agency representatives, nongovernmental organizations, researchers and others. WWF coordinates the Dialogue but has an equal voice in the process.

At the inaugural meeting, Dialogue participants identified the seven key negative environmental and social issues (summarized above) to address. Draft principles, criteria, indicators and standards were developed by Technical Working Groups that began meeting in the spring of 2008. The first draft of principles, criteria, indicators and standards was posted in April for the first of two 60-day public comment periods. Feedback received during that period was discussed at the last meeting of the Dialogue, held in August in Vietnam, and used to revise the document. The second draft of the standards document was posted for public comment on November 20, 2009. Please give us your feedback by January 20, 2010. The standards are expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2010.

When finalized, the standards will be given to a new organization, to be co-founded by WWF, that will be responsible for working with independent, third party entities to certify farms that are in compliance with the standards. Click here for more information about this organization.

Principles

Dialogue participants have identified guiding principles -- high level goals -- for each of the eight issues associated with pangasius farming.The principles will provide the framework for the criteria, indicators and standards for responsible pangasius farming. The criteria will aim to provide direction on how to reduce each impact and the indicators will address how to measure the extent of each impact. Standards will be quantitative performance levels that evaluate whether a principle is achieved.

The principles associated with each issue are:

1. Locate and operate farms within established national and legal framework
2. Farms must be located, designed, constructed and managed to minimize negative impacts on other users and the environment
3. Minimize negative impacts on water resources
4. Minimize impacts on the genetic integrity of local pangasius production
5. Use feed and feeding practices that make efficient use of available feed resources and minimize waste
6. Implement farm management measures to maximize fish health
7. Ensure food safety and quality while minimizing the impact to the ecosystem and human health
8. Develop and operate farms in a socially responsible manner that contributes effectively to rural development and, particularly, poverty alleviation

Learn more

• Dialogue process guidance document
  English  | Spanish  | French  | Thai
• Pangasius Dialogue Fact Sheet
• Process Facilitation Group and Technical Working Group members
• Fact sheet about what to look for when buying farmed pangasius
• Pangasius Dialogue meeting reports and presentations
• "Guidelines for Environmental Management of Aquaculture Investments in Vietnam," published by the World Bank and the Ministry of Fisheries and produced by a range of partners, including WWF

 Learn more about the other aquaculture Dialogues WWF is working on