HCM City (VNA) - The Ho Chi Minh Fisheries Sub-department has selected four ornamental fish farms that meetconditions to produce ornamental fish under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)standards.

The farms, Dong Khoi Ornamental Fish Farm and Niem Dam Me Discus Farm in Cu Chi district, and AMRFarm and Xanh Tuoi Ornamental Fish Farm in Binh Chanh district, produceornamental fish for sale in domestic and foreign markets.

The Dong Khoi OrnamentalFish Farm, which covers 4,000 sq.m in Trung Lap Ha commune’s Xom Moi hamletspecialises in producing neon ornamental fish, tiger barb and rummy-nose Tetrafor exports.

The Niem Dam Me DiscusFarm specialises in producing discus ornamental fish.

The sub-department hasprovided the farms with quality techniques that meet standards and focus onenvironmental protection, disease prevention, quality of ornamental fish seedand fish feed.

The city has exported10.5 million ornamental fish worth 12.7 million USD this year, up 14.8 percentin volume and 10.6 percent in value against the same period last year,according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The city has exported 60more fresh water ornamental fish species. Of the figure, more than 40 specieshave been produced artificially, while the rest are caught from rivers andsprings.

Exports of marineornamental fish, which have high value, account for 1 percent of the city’sornamental fish exports.

The city’s ornamentalfish is exported to the EU, Asia, America, and South Africa.

Two ornamental fishtrading areas are located on Nguyen Thong street in District 3 and Luu Xuan Tin street in District 5.

Vo Thanh Liem, owner ofthe Da Tuong ornamental fish shop on Luu Xuan Tin street, who has been inbusiness for many years, said the sector is developing strongly.

Wholesale traders inother provinces and cities in the country are visiting HCM City to buyornamental fish.

Discus ornamental fishtops the city’s list of ornamental fish exports, which has been identified as akey product of the city’s agricultural sector.

The city, which is thecountry’s largest ornamental fish producer, has about 88ha of land devoted toraising ornamental fish in outlying districts, with more than 290 householdsinvolved in production.

The Sai Gon OrnamentalCreatures Co-operative in Cu Chi district has worked closely with 80 localornamental fish farming households to have a stable quantity of ornamental fishfor exports.

The cooperative exportsabout 1.9 million ornamental fish a month.

Nguyen Van Thuy, Chairman of the co-operative, said that demand for ornamental fish huge fromboth domestic and foreign markets.

The hobby of breedingornamental fish is no longer limited to those with high incomes, asaverage-income people can now join in the trade, he added.-VNA