The province began experimenting with breeding the species in Klong Klanh village, Lac Duong district in 2006, said Nguyen Viet Thuy, project leader and head of the Quang Hiep Experimental Fish Breeding Station under the Research Institute for Aquaculture 3 (RIA3).
The pilot project was funded by the Lam Dong Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. With proper breeding techniques, salmon and sturgeon breeders could make 30 percent to 40 percent in profit, said Thuy, adding the margin had prompted local farmers to get in on the coldwater fish bandwagon and provincial authorities to plan to expand the cultivation of the fish to more than 50 hectares by 2010.
Kodong Ka Hoa, an ethnic Chil farmer from Tupoh village in Lac Duong district, plans to increase her salmon stock from 3,000 to 5,000 in the next breeding season. Hoa was one of the first farmers involved in the pilot project.
In the first season, Hoa made VND 199 million ($12,000/€8,500) from raising 3,000 salmon in 20 months.
A one year old salmon can reach an average weight of 1.2 kilograms, with breeders reaping an output of 30 tons per hectare. It costs VND 63,000 to VND 67,000 ($3.80-$4/€2.68-€2.82) per kilogram to raise salmon, but they sell for VND 150,000 ($9/€6.35) a kilo.
Salmon and sturgeon fries for the pilot study were bought from the northern highlands provinces of Lao Cai, which was where the first salmon and sturgeon eggs were hatched in the country in early 2005.
Several businesses in Lam Dong and Ho Chi Minh City are investing in fisheries in Klong Klanh village, Tuyen Lam and Da Nhim Lakes, according to Lac Duong district authorities.
The HCM City-based Hoang Pho Co. spent VND 5 billion ($302,400/213,300) to breed salmon and sturgeon there. Company 7-5, a subsidiary of Military Region 7, will spend VND 44 billion ($2.7 million/€1.9 million) on a fish breeding project there.
Last year, HCM City-based Ha Quang Co. successfully hatched sturgeon eggs, and raised the fish in cages in Tuyen Lam Lake in Da Lat.
The company imported the eggs and hatching techniques from Russia.
In March, the RIA3 Experiment Research Station for Aquaculture successfully hatched 90 percent of some 250,000 salmon eggs imported from Finland in Tuyen Lam Lake. Lam Dong province now harvests about 40 tons of salmon and 100 tons of sturgeon annually.
Vietnam imports an average of 1,500 tons of salmon from Europe annually, with local demand on the rise.