Pangas farming: the modern way to a profitable fish

Before dawn breaks, the splash of a net being hauled can be heard at ponds around Trishal and Bhaluka in Mymensingh. As the net comes in, silver, scaleless fish leap across the surface, and on the bank a pickup waits to carry them to the wholesale markets of Dhaka within hours. The fish is pangas. Once a delicacy served at wealthy tables, it is now the everyday protein of low- and middle-income families. It grows fast, sells all year and, farmed properly, returns a good profit in a short time; for all these reasons pangas farming has become one of the most popular and profitable ventures in Bangladeshi agriculture.

The numbers tell the same tale. Citing the Department of Fisheries, The Daily Star reported that production of farmed pangas rose from 155,000 tonnes in the 2010-11 financial year to 395,000 tonnes in 2021-22, two and a half times as much. Mymensingh, Cumilla, Bogura, Joypurhat, Narsingdi and Jashore are now well-known pangas districts. Because it can be produced in quantity at low cost, the fish meets domestic demand and is opening export prospects too.

Pangas is farmed above all because it grows quickly and the market wants it. For a farmer the advantages come down to four:

• Fast growth: the fish reach market size in only 6 to 8 months.
• Market demand: prices hold up all year, with no dependence on a season.
• Low-cost care: it can be raised more cheaply and with less trouble than many other fish.
• High output: many fish can be kept in a small space, so production per acre is high.

Pangas also has an edge when it comes to breathing. When oxygen in the water runs low, it can come to the surface from time to time and take air. That is why it survives in ponds stocked comparatively densely, a great advantage for intensive farming.

Pangas has been prized on Bengali tables for as long as anyone remembers. It lives in open natural waters, particularly the rivers and coastal areas of the south. It was once a symbol of status; a large river pangas was something mostly the well-off could afford.

Environmental change, however, has steadily reduced the navigability of the rivers, the depth they need for boats. Silt fills the channels, and the fish's natural breeding grounds have been damaged along with them. As a result, the river catch of pangas keeps falling. Because pond culture held so much promise, work on it has gone on since the 1980s, and that work is why pond-raised pangas is now a cheap, widely available protein.

Of the pangas types, the native and the Thai are the best known. They look alike, but differ in taste, price and farming.

The native pangas (deshi pangas) has a silvery body, a darker back and a faintly grey band above the lateral line, the thin line running from head to tail along each side with which a fish senses vibrations in the water. It has no scales. It is still regarded as the tastier fish and sells at a higher price. It is found mostly in the Padma, Meghna, Brahmaputra and Jamuna, and it can survive harsh conditions. From March to June its fry appear in the main rivers and in many rivers of the south.

The Thai pangas is native to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and neighbouring countries. According to published research, the Department of Fisheries brought the species from Thailand in 1990, and in 1993 it was successfully bred artificially in Bangladesh for the first time. Artificial or induced breeding means using hormones in a hatchery to make the fish spawn under controlled conditions. It ended the dependence on catching fry in rivers: hatcheries began supplying farms with fry by the hundreds of thousands. Today the Thai pangas is the fish of commercial farming. It grows faster than the native pangas and can reach 10 to 12 kilograms.

The choice of farming method depends on several things: the pond or water body, the environment, the ability to control water, capital, access to good fry and the market. With all of these in mind the farmer decides how to farm. This report deals with the monoculture or intensive farming of pangas, the most common approach among commercial farmers.

Monoculture means raising only one species in the pond, in this case pangas. Intensive farming means stocking fry at high density to produce more in less time, and growing them on protein-rich manufactured feed. The method brings higher profits. With good management, 15 to 20 tonnes of pangas per hectare is possible. In monoculture, 20,000 to 25,000 fingerlings of 8 to 10 centimetres can be stocked per hectare. Stocking the larger fingerlings held over from the previous year raises output and profit further, because the fish then reach market size sooner.

Half the work of successful pangas farming is done by choosing the right pond and preparing it well. When choosing, look at the following:

• A rectangular pond is best. The bottom should be levelled well so that netting and harvesting are convenient. Water depth should be 1.5 to 2 metres.
• A pond in loam soil is best for pangas, because loam holds water and helps natural food develop.
• A deep or shallow tube well close by is needed to add water quickly in an emergency.
• Banks should be repaired in advance so they do not collapse in the monsoon or heavy rain. A breached bank lets the stock escape and lets predatory fish in.
• Finally, the pond should be somewhere with good road access and adequate security. That cuts the cost of bringing in feed and sending fish to market, and reduces the risk of theft.

Once the pond is chosen, it must be prepared properly. First, any aquatic weeds should be removed. Weeds take up nutrients, lower oxygen and shelter disease organisms and pests.

Next, unwanted and predatory fish must go. Snakehead (shol), wallago (boal), giant snakehead, spotted snakehead, spiny eel, mola and similar fish should be taken out before pangas are stocked. Predators eat small fry, and unwanted small fish compete for feed. There are several ways to remove them: drag a fine-meshed net through the pond again and again; drain the pond and, if possible, plough the bottom. Sometimes even this does not get rid of every predator. In that case they can be controlled with approved chemicals on the advice of the local upazila fisheries office.

Liming is very important to make a pond fit and sustainable for fish. Lime reduces acidity, cuts harmful gases and germs in the bottom mud and makes fertiliser work better. In ponds with no acidity problem, 250 to 300 kilograms of lime per hectare is applied. Grinding the lime to a fine powder first makes it far more effective.

To boost natural food in the pond, the microscopic plants and animals called plankton, both organic and chemical fertilisers are used. Fertiliser usually goes in 4 to 5 days after liming. New ponds and sandy ponds need more organic manure; old, muddy ponds need a higher rate of chemical fertiliser. During preparation, apply 8 to 10 kilograms of cow dung or 4 to 5 kilograms of poultry litter per decimal as organic manure.

There is a common technique to make the fertiliser more effective. For each decimal, soak 100 grams of TSP with the organic manure for 8 to 10 hours. Before use, mix in 100 grams of urea per decimal and spread the whole mixture across the pond. If the water turns green or brown 4 to 5 days after fertilising, natural food has developed and the pond is ready for stocking. If the water stays muddy or dark, it is better to wait a few days more or consult a fisheries officer.

With the pond ready, good-quality pangas fry must be bought, preferably from a reliable hatchery. The quality of the fry ultimately decides the harvest; weak, diseased or inbred fry eat as much feed but do not grow. Inbreeding means repeated breeding among closely related fish, which weakens later generations.

Transport needs special care so the fry are not harmed. Before the journey, hold them without food in a tank for 4 to 5 hours to condition them. Their stomachs are then empty, less waste builds up in the transport container and the water stays clean. The fry should not be agitated on the way; jolting and sudden changes of temperature weaken them. A good common practice is to bring the water in the transport container and the pond water slowly to the same temperature before release.

In intensive farming, the natural food that develops in the pond is not enough for the growth a farmer expects. Balanced feed must therefore be given. It is important to remember that if the fixed daily ration is not supplied, pangas production will suffer. Feed takes the largest share of the cost of pangas farming, so feeding is really where profit and loss are decided.

The amount of feed depends on the age and body weight of the fish. Small fish eat more in relation to their weight, larger fish comparatively less. So every 15 days, catch a few fish as a sample and weigh them to check they are growing properly, and raise the ration accordingly.

How the feed is given matters too. It is best to feed at 6 to 8 fixed spots, depending on the size of the pond, so that every fish gets food and none accumulates and rots in one place. Pelleted feed is scattered, while homemade supplementary feed is rolled into balls and placed at fixed spots. Splitting the daily ration into two or three equal meals rather than giving it all at once makes it far more effective. Lime and fertiliser should also be applied as needed, to keep both water quality and natural food in good shape.

In a densely stocked pond, water quality deteriorates quickly. Fish waste and uneaten feed rot and release harmful gases such as ammonia, and oxygen falls. A few rules keep water and fish healthy:

• Regular water exchange: every 15 to 20 days, replace 20 to 30 per cent of the pond water with fresh water.
• Water quality: use an aerator to keep enough oxygen in the water. An aerator is a machine that stirs or sprays water to mix oxygen from the air into it.
• Regular observation: watch how the fish move, how keenly they feed and what condition their bodies are in.
• Treatment: at the first signs of disease, treat on the advice of a fisheries specialist; do not guess at medicines.

If at dawn the fish are seen gulping at the surface, the water is short of oxygen. The problem is worst on cloudy, sultry days and in the last hours of the night. The first steps then are to cut that day's feed, run the aerator or add fresh water.

An effective strategy in pangas farming is partial harvesting. Depending on demand, 5 to 6 months after stocking, when the fish average 500 to 600 grams, half the stock, that is 50 per cent, should be sold. This frees space and oxygen, and the remaining fish grow faster. It also puts cash in the farmer's hands halfway through the season to pay for feed.

• When to sell: the fish are ready for market within 6 to 8 months of stocking.
• How to catch them: use a seine net or a purpose-made net; stopping feed the day before harvest reduces deaths in transport.
• Marketing: supplying local and national markets brings a good price.

Demand for pangas grows year by year, and it sells well in both towns and villages. The cost of fry, feed and care in a pond is lower than for many other fish. Under intensive farming, 70 to 100 kilograms of fish per decimal can be produced in 6 to 8 months. Pangas usually sells for between 120 and 150 taka a kilogram; a Daily Star report in August 2023 put the wholesale price in Mymensingh at 130 to 150 taka. With sound planning and management, the business can be profitable.

The same report said Mymensingh district alone has 112,000 fish farmers, concentrated in the upazilas of Trishal, Gouripur, Phulpur, Tarakanda, Bhaluka and Muktagacha. Vietnam currently leads the world in pangasius exports. Bangladeshi fisheries researchers believe the country could win a place in that market if it improves quality and processing. Exports would need disease-free fry, good feed, controlled use of medicines and a system that keeps fish quality intact from farm to market.

To understand profit properly, a farmer needs written records. Noting when and how many fry were stocked, how many kilograms of feed went in each day, when lime and fertiliser were applied, how much the sample fish gained and how many fish were sold at what price makes the true cost and profit clear at the end of the season. The same records show where costs can be cut next time.

In doing the sums, though, farmers must allow for swings in feed prices. When manufactured feed becomes dearer, the margin shrinks, and when many farmers harvest at once, prices fall. That is why partial harvesting, careful feed accounts and a close eye on the market matter so much.

Fish farming has long played an important part in meeting family nutrition and food security. According to the Department of Fisheries' yearbook for 2023-24, the country produced about 5.02 million tonnes of fish that year. Bangladesh has around 250,000 hectares of ponds and tanks and some 600,000 to 700,000 hectares of water bodies in all. Planned pangas farming in these waters could multiply the country's total fish production several times. It would create jobs for large numbers of unemployed young men and women: feed making, fry production, transport and marketing all need workers.

Bengalis have long been described as a people of fish and rice (machhe-bhate Bangali), a tradition that was fading, and pangas farming can do much to restore it. Families who cannot regularly buy rohu, catla or hilsa now meet their protein needs with affordable pangas. Pangas farming is therefore both profitable and comparatively trouble-free. It gives a large harvest in a short time and raises farm incomes.

The key to success, however, is following the method: a good pond, careful preparation, fry from a trusted hatchery, measured feeding, a watch on water quality and well-judged selling. Farmed, managed and marketed properly, pangas will not only raise a farmer's income but also play a large part in the national economy. For a newcomer, a sensible first step is to visit the nearest upazila fisheries office for training and advice, then start small and expand the farm as experience grows.

Photo: Pangas, the iridescent shark catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) / User:Melanochromis / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)