Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Program 72 DEVELOPMENT OF IN - POND FLOATING RACEWAY TECHNOLOGY FOR INTENSIVE FARMING OF MARINE FINFISH Project title: Intensive in - pond floating raceway production of marine finfish Project code : CARD 062/04 VIE Author: Hoang Tung, School of Biotechnology, International University, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Email: htun g@hcmiu.edu.vn Project Implementing organisations: Vietnamese organisation : Nha Trang University, Khanh Hoa Vietnamese Project Team Leader : Dr. Hoang Tung Australian Organisation : Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries Australian Personn el : Mr Michael Burke SUMMARY CARD project 062/04 VIE entitled ‘Intensive in - pond floating raceway production of marine finfish’ was conducted from August 2005 through August 2007 aiming to develop the larval rearing and nursery capacity of marine finfish production in Vietnam through the use of accessible, cost effective and environmentally sustainable technologies. After two year of implementation, both components of the project are all successful, achieving the expected outputs, including trial of in po nd floating raceways with systems management, water quality management and waste remediation to grow - out marine finfish to market size; and capacity building for Nha Trang University. The final production trial at BIARC (Australian component) was to evalua te the suitability of raceways for extended grow - out of fish to 1.5 kg that confirmed fish husbandry (feeding, monitoring, harvesting) is easily managed in raceways either as a nursery system, as an intermediate grow - out system, or as an on - growing system. At the same time, research into water remediation strategies was also completed. Bio - flock technology was found to be the most promising technology to progress towards zero water discharge under Australian conditions. For the Vietnamese component the tria l on zero - discharge system and trials on cobia and groupers were all conducted successfully. Growth performance and survival of the Malaba grouper in the floating raceways were outperformed that in any other nursing system. Mortality was, however, still hi gh with cobia due to parasite infection in previous nursing stage. Dissemination of technology to farmers has been conducted various manners, including organization of workshops and exhibition booth, scientific publications, oral presentations at national and international conferences, temporary provision of floating raceways to local farmers for testing, provision of free - of - charge consultation for interested companies or individuals, incorporation of project outcomes into lecture notes for graduate and un dergraduate aquaculture programs at Nha Trang University and production of a technical guideline and movie clip. These activities have brought the project results to the users. 1. Introduction According to FAO (2009) Vietnam ranks No.3 worldwide in term of aquaculture production. Thus, Vietnam should further develop its aquaculture industry to meet the increasing seafood demand of both domestic and export markets, and to improve the economics of coastal communities. Recent evaluation showed that the produ ction of farmed marine fish reached only 5% of the target of 20,000 metric tons by 2010 set by the government for the 2001 - 2010 national aquaculture development program (Dr Ph ạ m Anh Tu ấ n, personal communication). The shortage of CARD 062/04 VIE – In - pond floating raceways 73 quality fingerlings at large sizes has been considered as one of the major barriers for marine fish farming in Vietnam, not to mention signific ant reduction of purchasing power due to the recent global economy crisis. During 2000 - 2005 many projects were conducted on the development of technologies for artificial propagation of high - value marine fish species such as barramundi (Lates calcarifer), groupers (Epinephelus spp.) and cobia (Rachycentron canadum), resulting in some remarkable successes (Le Xan 2005, Nguyen Van Su 2005). As a result the production of marine fish fingerlings increased significantly, meeting partially the demand of local fis h farmers. Fingerling size was, however, not large enough for direct stocking for grow - out in sea cages or coastal ponds. Low survival in the early stages of farming was typically reported. Advanced nursing of fish fingerlings to 10 to 12 cm total body len gth in indoor facilities is costly and cannot produce huge numbers of fish due to limitations of both nursing area and capital investment. Meanwhile, advanced nursing of fish in earthen ponds was not effective and associated with many difficulties in feedi ng, husbandry and health management. To address these constraints our CARD project 062/04 VIE entitled ‘Intensive in - pond floating raceway production of marine finfish’ was conducted between 2005 - 2007. The project was financially and technically supported by the Collaboration for Agriculture and Development Program (CARD), Bribie Island Aquaculture Research Center – QDPI&F (Australia), Nha Trang University (Khanh Hoa, Vietnam), Grobest Imei Vietnam, and Khanh Hoa Fisheries Promotion Center. The CARD VIE062/ 04 project adopted the operational principles of in - pond floating raceway which have been successfully tested in the USA (Masser & Lazur, 1997), Germany (Gottschalk et al. 2005) and Australia (Collins & Hoang Tung, unpublished) in order to (i) design and c onstruct in - pond floating raceways using local materials, (ii) conduct farming/nursing trials on high value species and (iii) develop and introduce the established technology to the local aquaculture industries. In - pond floating raceways are basically sim ilar to elongated rectangular tanks which can be made of different materials such as aluminium , molded plastic or wooden frame and HDPE plastic sheet. They are either self - floating or supported by a pontoon installed in the reservoir pond. Water is continu ously circulated through the raceway by airlifts. This type of pumping has been considered as an effective means for moving water when pumping head is low. In addition, incoming water is enriched with oxygen in the airlifts. Together with high water exchan ge rate it allows high densities of farmed fish in the raceway, e.g. 70 - 100 kg/m3. In - pond floating raceway is also convenient for the farmers to handle and manage. Observation on feeding, health and behavior of the farmed fish, grading and harvesting ar e all easily conducted as fish are concentrated in a small volume of water. Thus, labor cost can be reduced by 50%. Predation is effectively excluded since the inlet, outlet and surface of the raceway are covered with net. If treatments are needed for the farmed fish, farmers can turn the raceway into a ‘close’ tank by temporarily ceasing the operation of airlifts and blocking the outlet. Thank to this remarkable advantage, prophylactic treatment for fish is highly effective and economical. Previous trials in the USA, Germany and Australia also showed that feed efficiency of fish cultured in floating raceways is significantly improved compared with other farming systems. Feed cost and waste from the system are reduced by approximately 30%. Generally, floatin g raceways have many advantage over the traditional nursing systems and should be introduced extensively. However, the application of this technology is limited by unreliable electricity supply and high electricity cost in the developing countries. Thus, t he focus of our CARD VIE062/04 was different for Australia and Vietnam. The Australian component aimed to develop grow - out technology using in - pond floating raceways to improve overall management and reduce labor cost. The Vietnamese component focused on a dvanced nursing of marine finfish fingerling in order to meet the urgent demand for large fingerlings and to overcome the limitations of high capital Hoang Tung 74 investment and high operation costs by fast turn - over rate that is usually achievable in fingerling produc tion. After two years of implementation (August 2005 - August 2007) both components of the project are all successful, achieving the expected outputs, including capacity building for Nha Trang University. This report presents the obtained results of the pr oject with more emphasis on the SMART floating raceway system and the advanced nursing technology developed by the Vietnam component. 2. Research contents and methods The CARD project 062/04 VIE ‘Intensive in - pond floating raceway production of marine fis h’ is considered as an R&D project rather than a pure research one with the following specific activities 2.1 Design in - pond floating raceway for grow - out of marine finfish in Australia, trial operation and evaluation Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) and wh iting (Sillago ciliata) were used as the model species for trials in Australia from 2005 – 2006. Based on the biology of these species and production targets, two types of floating raceways were designed and constructed: 3.6 m3 for nursing grow - out of whit ing to the size of 60 g/individual and 20 m3 for grow - out of Mulloway to the size of 2,000 g/individual. Six raceways were made by wooden frame and 2 - mm HDPE canvas. The raceways were placed in a grow - out pond of 1600 m2 (40*40 m), 2 m deep and lined with 2 - mm HDPE. The duration of trials was up to 18 months. Ridley’s Aqua - Feed Native Fish Diet (low sinking, granular size of 1 - 3 mm and 4 - 6 mm) was used to culture whiting. Mulloway were fed with the floating and sinking Ridley’s Aqua - Feed Barramundi Diet feed with granule size of 4 – 10 mm. Feeding rate was adjusted daily depending on the recorded actual consumption by fish, weather condition and water quality. Regular recording of the important data on water quality, feeding amount, growth rate and survi val was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of system (see the milestone reports 2 & 4, Burke & Tung 2006 for more details). 2.2 Design in - pond floating raceway for advanced nursing of marine finfish in Vietnam, trial operation and evaluation The component c onducted in Vietnam focused on advanced nursing of marine finfish fingerlings from 2 – 4 cm to 10 – 15 cm body length. Abandoned shrimp ponds due to virulent diseases along the central coast of Vietnam were targeted. Fiberglass was selected as the material to build floating raceway. This material makes the raceway light, solid and more durable thus enhancing its mobility, convenience for transportation and installation, ease in cleaning. The raceways are named SMART, an abbreviation of Sustainable Maricultu re Technology. Based on the biology of the model species; requirement for water exchange rate and waste discharge, hydraulic dynamic principles and the results of previous studies the CARD VIE062/04 has designed and tested a system consisted to six SMART - 1 raceways 3 - m3 working volume each in the first year (2005 – 2006). The tested species included red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.), barramundi (Lates calcarifer) and mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimacus). The SMART - 1 raceways were attached on a pontoon constructe d with wooden frame and 200 - L plastic drums. All were placed in a reservoir pond of 2000 m2, 1.7 m deep. The duration of each trial was about three to four weeks (Lu The Phuong 2006). Water in the pond was circulated by portioning the pond with plastic sh eet in the middle and using a 2 - hp paddle wheel. No water exchange was conducted during eleven months of different trials. Water quality, feed amount, growth rate and survival of fish were periodically monitored for evaluation (for more details see Burke & Tung 2006). Based on the analysis of SMART - 1 performance, the second version SMART - 2 (6 m3, self - floating) was designed, manufactured and tested in the second year of the project. This was to improve productivity up to commercial scale. In the second year more trials on nursing barramundi (Lates calcarifer), Malaba grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus) and cobia (Rachycentron canadum) were conducted simultaneously with the trial on zero - exchange water system (for more details Burke et al. 2007). CARD 062/04 VIE – In - pond floating raceways 75 2.3 Investigate on the potential of building the zero - exchange in - pond floating raceway system for nursing marine finfish The trials were conducted at Bribie Island Aquaculture Research Centre in Australia and at Khanh Hoa Fisheries Promotion Center in Vietnam during the second year of the project. In Australia fish were cultured in floating raceways placed in a reservoir pond. Discharged water was treated by biofloc technology and seaweed. In Vietnam marine fish fingerlings were nursed in SMART floating raceways placed i n a reservoir pond stocked with giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) and red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.). No water exchange was conducted during the trial period (for more details see Burke et al. 2007). 2.4 Dissemination of technology to farmers The disseminati on of research outcomes and technology was conducted in various manners, including organization of workshops and exhibition booth, scientific publications, oral presentations at national and international conferences, temporary provision of floating racewa ys to local farmers for testing, provision of free - of - charge consultation for interested companies or individuals, incorporation of project outcomes into lecture notes for graduate and undergraduate aquaculture programs at Nha Trang University and producti on of a technical guideline and movie clip. 2.5 Capacity building for Vietnamese staff This activity was conducted by sending one junior lecturer to Australia for short - term training, supporting and supervising two MSc students, organizing relevant seminars for staff of the Faculty of Aquaculture – Nha Trang University and Khanh Hoa Fisheries Promotion Center and get them involved in project activities where appropriate. 3. Research results and discussions 3.1 Design in - pond floating raceway for grow - out of ma rine finfish in Australia, trial operation and evaluation The structure of floating raceway used in BIARC is relatively simple (see Burke & Tung 2006). The supporting frame is made by waterproof treated wood and is floated by 200 - L plastic drums. The body of the raceway is made of 2 mm thick HDPE, hung on the pontoon by rust - proof pins. The airlift system installed for the 20m3 grow - out raceway consists of eighteen Ø90 - mm PVC pipes that results in a pumping rate of more than 1500 L/min. It takes circa 13 m inutes to completely exchange the raceways with new water. For the nursing raceways the airlift system consists of four Ø90 - mm PVC pipes. Pumping rate is 350 L/min or 14.5 minutes to complete 100% water exchange. The air compressor system is operated autom atically by a Center Management System (CMS) that can control temperature, pressure and air flow. The standard pressure is maintained at 36 Kpa. Automatic feeding machines are used. Fig . 1. Floating raceway 20 m 3 for grow - out marine finfish in Austra lia and the harvested whiting Trial on grow - out of whiting was successful at a density of 70 kg/m3 (see Burke & Tung 2006). After 9.5 months the farmed fish reached 88.9 g from 5.5 g at stocking. Standing biomass increased from 26 kg/m3 to 70 kg/m3 in nearly eleven weeks. Food conversion ratio was estimated at 1.8. The harvested whiting were well accepted by customers when placed in local supermarkets. Retail price for whiting as whole or fillet was $ 10/kg and $ 24/kg, respectively. Trial on Mulloway s howed that this species can be reared at densities up to 100 kg/m 3 or two metric tons per a 20 m3 raceway. Standing biomass increased from 15 kg to 100 kg/m3 in eleven months of culture. Fish weight was 500 g/individual and 1000 g/individual Hoang Tung 76 after 9 months and 14 months, respectively. FCR was 1.6 on average. More importantly, the trials demonstrated that husbandry (feeding, observation, grading, health care) and harvesting in raceway were highly convenient for all culture stages from nursing to grow - out. 3.2 D esign in - pond floating raceway for advanced nursing of marine finfish in Vietnam, trial operation and evaluation The raceways were designed and tested successfully with two versions SMART - 1 and SMART - 2. They were placed in a 2000 - m2 reservoir pond. The po nd was partitioned by a plastic wall right in the middle of the pond. This helped directing water to flow around the pond with the aid of a 2 - hp paddle wheel (Figure 2). Detailed design of the system is presented in the Milestone of the project 2&4 (Burke & Tung 2006) and in the publications of Phuong (2006), Tung et al. (2007). The operational volume of SMART - 1 is 3 m3 (Figure 2). Water flow through the raceway is circa of 350 L/min, equivalent to 700% water exchange in one hour. SMART - 1 design helped circ ulate water within the raceway as expected, facilitating waste collection and allowing high densities of nursed fish (up to 80 kg/m 3 at harvest). Fig . 2 . System arrangement Fig . 3 . SMART - 1 floating raceway A few drawbacks were, however, id entified with the design of SMART - 1 version. The raceways were attached to the supporting pontoon thus reducing its mobility and making cleaning difficult. The buoyancy of the pontoon remarkably depended on the numbers of workers working on it, causing neg ative impact on efficiency of the airlift system. There was no waste collector for SMART - 1 although the accumulated wastes at the end of the raceway could be easily siphoned out once a day (Burke & Tung 2006; Tung et al. 2007). These drawbacks were well ad dressed in the second version SMART - 2 (Hoang Tung & Khanh 2008). The operational volume of SMART - 2 is six m3, double that of SMART - 1. It is self - floating, i.e. requires no supporting structure. Its light weight (400 kg) allows easy transportation and insta llation. The raceway could be put immediately in operation after placing in a reservoir pond (Figure 4). The airlift system can be easily installed and removed for cleaning. Surface water of the reservoir pond is used to exchange with the raceway rather fr om lower layers as for SMART - 1. Hence, SMART - 2 can be placed in relatively shallow ponds, i.e. with water depths between 100 and 120 cm, without no contamination of the dirt from the pond bottom. SMART - 2 also has a simple waste collector at the end of the raceway, making it more convenient and effective in cleaning than SMART - 1. Fig . 4 . Floating raceway version SMART - 2 Paddle wheel Partitioned wall Floating raceways Monk Air compressors Air line Walkway CARD 062/04 VIE – In - pond floating raceways 77 The nursing trials using SMART - 1 and SMART - 2 floating raceways both obtained good results. In addition a protocol of using Grobest sh rimp pellets manually coated with vitamin mix and squid oil was successfully developed and applied. This improved profitability significantly while ensuring the quality of nursed fish. If applied properly the nursing protocols recommended by Tung et al. (2 009) can result in 85%, 90 - 95%, 60% survival after 40 - 45 days of nursing for barramundi, grouper and cobia, respectively. In addition, production cost is significantly lower than that for advanced nursing in tanks, ponds or cages (Tung et al. 2008). Tab le 2 . Fingerling size and production cost of marine fish nursed in SMART floating raceway (at the market price in 2008) Barramundi Malaba grouper Cobia Harvest size (mm long) 100 120 200 Production cost (VND) 1551 7391 9596 Market price (VND) 7000 160 00 20000 Profit return 2.82 1.16 1.08 3.3 Investigation on the potential of developing a zero - exchange system for growing/nursing marine finfish The trials on water treatment using biological methods was conducted in Australia with three elements (a) eva luating the waste collector installed in raceway; (b) using seaweed Asparagopsis armata to remove nutrients from discharged water and (c) applying biofloc technology for pH control and waste treatment. Results showed that the tested waste collector i mproved waste collection by 16% compared to the conventional method that allows discharged water overflow through the raceway outlet. This solution made it possible to direct discharged water from the raceway to the treatment pond. It also found out that t he concentration of phytoplankton and suspended solids should be reduced to promote the development of Asparagopsis armata in the waste treatment system. Organic waste should also transformed into inorganic nutrients for the seaweed. Biofloc technology app lied for treatment of discharged water was demonstrated to be a highly promising solution for development of a zero - exchange culture system (Burke et al. 2007). The associated bacteria eliminated most of dissolved organic nutrients after 12 hours when 30 g of C/l was added. A zero - exchange culture model was then proposed and needs to be further studied for practical application (Figure 6 ) . Fig . 5. Design of the waste collector. A plastic screen will be used to prevent fi sh from escaping. Hoang Tung 78 Fig . 6. Outline of the zero - exchanged system with a separated bio - flocs module In V ietnam the attempt to integrate advanced nursing of marine fish in floating raceways with farming tiger prawn (5 prawns/m2) and red tilapia (0.25 fish/m2) was conducted. Growth rate and survival of Malaba grouper nursed in this raceway system was significa ntly higher than every nursing models at the experimentation time. However, lower survival rate was recorded for cobia in raceway due to parasite infection in hatchery (Burke et al. 2007). Water quality in the integrated pond was good and stably maintained during the four months of trial with no water exchange. During that period of time, seven batches of fish were nursed including barramundi, grouper and cobia. All trials had good results with relatively high profitability. Growth rate and survival of Mal aba grouper nursed in raceway at a density up to 1,700 fish/m3 were high (Table 3). The nursed fish accepted Grobest prawn pellets coated with squid oil very well. Thus, feed cost was reduced by 80% compared to the popularly used pellet supplied by INVE. R esult on cobia was not as good as for barramundi and Malaba grouper. Survival was quite low. Examination showed that fish might be infected with the so - called “spring parasites” (Nguyen Quang Huy - RIA1) in the hatcheries before stocking in the raceways. Table 3. Results on nursing barramundi and grouper Malaba in the in - pond floating raceway Parameters Barramundi Malaba grouper Batch 1 Batch 2 Batch 1 Batch 2 Fingerling size at release(cm) 2.0 ± 0.1 2.3 ± 0.8 5.2 ± 0.4 6.3 ± 0.5 Fingerling size at harvest (cm) 6.2 ± 1.1 8.4 ± 1.0 11.0 ± 0.7 6.9 ± 0.4 Duration (days) 23 41 41 10 Growth rate (cm.day - 1 ) 0.182 0.149 0.141 0.086 Number of fish released 30,000 20,000 2,000 5,000 Number of fish harvested 23,400 10,202 1,921 4,960* Survival (%) 78.0 51.0 96.0 99.2* * Data obtained on the 7 th day of the batch, 2 days before fish death due to unexpected failure of the airlift system on Ausgust 5 th , 2007 The cultured prawns reached 30 g or more at harvest. Survival, however, was relatively low due to heavy predation by barramundi escaped from the raceways. Another drawback of this trial was that the inoculated Artemia to graze algae and provide additional live food for fish fingerlings did not develop as expected. Nevertheless, this primary trial p repared the Screen Air jet to provide oxygen and to mix water Periodically removing accumulated sludge Banana prawn stocked at low density with no feeding – prawns will feed on flocs Clean supernatant back to culture pond Paddle wheel Grow - out pond Bio - floc Pond Discharged water rich in nutrients pumped to the treatment pond Floating raceways Added water to compensate evaporation CARD 062/04 VIE – In - pond floating raceways 79 ground for further development of a more sustainable integrated culture system that requires no water exchange and imposes minimal impact on the environment (for more details see Burke et al. 2007). Fig . 7 . Clockwise, from above to below (a) feeding cobia (b) good feeding activity, (c) cobia and (d) Malaba grouper at harvest 3.4 Dissemination of technology to farmers In collaboration with Khanh Hoa Fisheries Promotion Center, CARD VIE062/04 Project had organized three workshops for lo cal farmers, one exhibition booth at the Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2007 Conference in Hanoi which attracted special attention of many participants in Vietnam and abroad. The results the project were published as technical and milestone reports, several pre sentations at international conferences in the US and Vietnam, one article in the Advocate magazine and two scientific papers in the Fisheries Science & Technology Journal (2007, 2009); two scientific papers proceedings of local workshops; two MSc theses o f Luu The Phuong and Ngo Van Manh, and some undergraduate theses. After the completion of the project information dissemination has been continually conducted via the ViFINET Aquaculture Conference in December, 2008 and Best Aquaculture Practices Workshop organized by CARD in July, 2009 in Nha Trang. With additional support from the CARD program the project will publish a technical manual (in Vietnamese and English) in 2010 and establish a floating raceway model at the International University – VNUHCM for training students and interested farmers. These activities altogether have resulted in the application of this newly developed technology to a number of interested companies in Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Ben Tre provinces and other countries such as Malaysia, the USA, Singapore and Australia. The research team in Vietnam had been awarded the Second Prize in the Science & Technology Innovation Competition in 2007 by the Khanh Hoa People Committees. 3.5 Capacity building for Vietnamese staff Through t he CARD VIE062/04 the project staff of Nha Trang University have had opportunities to collaborate with Australian colleagues to study and successfully develop an advanced nursing system for marine finfish. During the project, one junior lecturer was sent t o Australia for a 3 - month training course; one Hoang Tung 80 technical staff of the Khanh Hoa Fisheries Promotion was get involved in research; several training courses and information exchange were organized; two MSc students were sponsored and supervised to conduct th esis research related to in - pond floating raceway. At the present both of them are serving the fisheries sector in Vietnam: one is a lecturer of Nha Trang University, Faculty of Aquaculture and the other is an officer of Quang Ninh Department of Agricultur e and Rural Development. V.L.I.R. program in Belgium awarded the project secretary, Ms. Banh Thi Quyen Quyen a scholarship to undertake MSc study in aquaculture thank to her academic performance and research experience. Ms. Quyen obtained her MSc degree w ith distinction in 2009 and is now serving Nha Trang University as a lecturer. 4. Conclusions and recommendation  The CARD VIE062/04 project has been successful in developing a cost - effective technology for growing and for advanced nursing of marine finfi sh using in - pond floating raceways. This innovative technology allows the production of large number of quality fingerlings at relatively low costs and is considered adoptable by farmers in both Australia and Vietnam. Its achievements in network creation, scientific publication and capacity building for Vietnamese staff are considered remarkable.  The results of CARD 062/04 VIE Project should be further promoted with support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam. It is important that this advanced technology is transferred to companies and farmers in different parts of Vietnam helping develop mariculture.  As the labor cost and thus production cost is generally low in Vietnam the fiberglass - made SMART raceways should be further imp roved in design and manufacture that could eventually result in a module - based commercial products for export.  Floating raceway has great potential for application to the farming of other important aquaculture species such as including the spiny rock lobst ers, marine finfish, ornamental fish or incorporating into an integrated farming system that requires no water exchange. R&D works related to these potentials should be strongly endorsed and supported by relevant agencies. REFERENCE 1. Burke M., Russel B., Co llins A. & Hoang T. (2007) Intensive in - pond floating raceway production of marine finfish. In : Book of Abstracts, World Aquaculture Society Annual Meeting, 26 February – 2 March 2007, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 2. Burke M., Hoang Tung & Willet D. (2007) CARD V IE062/04 Project - Milestone Report No.5. CARD Program, MARD, Hanoi. 3. Gottschalk T., Füllner G. & Pfeifer M. (2005) Möglichkeiten der Einführung neuer Fischarten als Objekte der Aquakultur in Sachsen. Aufzucht von Hybrid - Streifenbarschen in einer ‘In - Teich - Kreislaufanlage’, Schriftenreihe der Sächsischen Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft Heft 14 – 10. Jahrgang 2005. 4. Masser M.P. & Lazur A. (1997) In - pond raceways. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, SRAC Publication No. 170. 5. Le Xan (2005) Results of researc h on reproduction and culture some species of marine and brackish fish in Vietnam in recent years, orienting for coming researches. In: Proceedings of the Conference on research and application science and technology in aquaculture. Agriculture Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh city, pp. 541 - 549 (in Vietnamese). 6. Luu T. Phuong (2006) Application float raceways to nurse barramundi (Lates calcarifer Bloch, 1790) from 2 – 8 cm total length. MSc thesis, University of Agriculture No. 1, Ha Noi (in Vietnamese). CARD 062/04 VIE – In - pond floating raceways 81 7. Ngo V an Manh (2008) Effects of stocking density, size, feed types and feeding regime on fingerlings of barramundi (Lates calcarifer Bloch 1790) nursed in in - pond floating raceways. MSc thesis, Nha Trang University, Vietnam. (in Vietnamese) 8. Ngo Van Manh & Hoang Tung (2009) Effects of feeding frequency on growth, survival and food conversion ratio of fingerling barramundi (Lates calcarifer Bloch 1790) nursed in floating raceways. Journal of Fisheries Science and Technology 01/09: 23 - 30 (in Vietnamese). 9. Nguyen V. Su (2005) Developing tendency of marine fish reproduction technology. Journal of Fisheries 3: 28 - 29 (in Vietnamese). 10. Hoang Tung, Collins A., Burke M. (2007) CARD VIE062/04 Project - Milestone Report No.2&4. CARD Program, MARD, Hanoi. 11. Hoang Tung, Burke M., Willet D. (2008) CARD VIE062/04 Project - Milestone Report No.8. CARD Program, MARD, Hanoi. 12. Hoang Tung, Burke M., Willet D. (2008) CARD VIE062/04 Project - Milestone Report No.9. CARD Program, MARD, Hanoi. 13. Hoang Tung, Huynh K.K. (2008) Advanced nursing o f seabass using SMART - 2 raceway. ViFINET International Aquaculture Workshop, Can Tho Dec 2008. 14. Hoang Tung, Luu T. P. & Huynh K.K. (2007) Trials of advanced nursing of barramundi Lates calcarifer in in - pond floating raceways. Journal of Fisheries Science an d Technology 01/07: 12 - 18 (in Vietnamese). 15. Hoang Tung, Huynh K.K., Banh T.Q.Q, Nguyen D.M & Burke M. (2007) Use of floating raceways for marine finfish fingerling production and potential for the development of an integrated farming system. In: Proceeding of IMOLA Symposium, Hue 19 – 20 April, 2007, pp 1 – 14. Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry. 16. Hoang Tung & Burke M. (2007) Floating raceways provide options for marine fish fingerling production. Global Aquaculture Advocate Jul - Aug: 54 - 55. 17. Hoang Tung , Burke M, Huynh KK, Banh TQQ & Nguyen DM (2007) Using floating raceway technology to integrate marine fish nursing with shrimp farming. In: Book of Abstracts, p. 318. Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2007 Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. 18. Hoang Tung, Nguyen DM, Col lins A. & Burke M (2007) Nursing marine fish in coastal ponds using floating raceways. In: Book of Abstracts, p. 818. Aquaculture 2007 Conference, San Antonia, USA. 19. Hoang Tung, Burke M. & Huynh KK (2009) Mass production of quality marine fish fingerlings by in - pond floating raceways. In: Proceedings of the BAP Workshop, p.1 - 12, July 2009 in Nha Trang. CARD Program, Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development of Vietnam. . Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Program 72 DEVELOPMENT OF IN - POND FLOATING RACEWAY TECHNOLOGY FOR INTENSIVE FARMING OF MARINE FINFISH Project title: Intensive in - pond floating. cost - effective technology for growing and for advanced nursing of marine finfi sh using in - pond floating raceways. This innovative technology allows the production of large number of quality fingerlings. of floating raceways to local farmers for testing, provision of free - of - charge consultation for interested companies or individuals, incorporation of project outcomes into lecture notes for