Project Name：Surubi Commercial Production Project (Paraguay)

Project status：Projects in Operation

Cooperating Country：South America, Paraguay

Project Description：

Surubi (official name: striped catfish, scientific name: Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum), Boga (scientific name: Leporinus spp), Paraná river salmon (official name: large scale catfish, scientific name: Brycon orbignyanus) in the natural rivers of Paraguay ) are fish species of high economic value, which have been reduced due to overfishing in recent years, among which Paraná River salmon is almost facing the crisis of extinction. Since 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Paraguay and the Taiwan Technical Mission have jointly carried out the promotion of freshwater fish breeding in Paraguay. Over the past few years, they have successively achieved brilliant results in the breeding and breeding programs of tilapia, freshwater Pacu and Surubi fish. It is affirmed by the Paraguay government and people; therefore, on the basis of the existing cooperation, Paraguay expects to expand the opportunities for the domestic aquaculture industry to achieve the goal of breeding diversity. It is proposed to use hybrid genetic technology to improve the survival rate of the local high-economic fish species Surubi and reduce the characteristics of cannibalism, so as to achieve the purpose of commercial farming. At the same time, in response to the needs of the Paraguay government and farmers for the diversification of breeding species, such as Paraná river salmon, Boga, and freshwater shrimp (official name: freshwater long-armed prawn, scientific name: Macrobrachium rosenbergii), the feasibility technology development is carried out. The work related to this project is as follows: (1) Establish a commercial culture model for Surubi fish; (2) Develop technology for breeding species diversity; (3) Provide guidance on sustainable and diversified farming models for commercial production.

Implementation Start Date：2023-01-01

Implementation End Date：2026-12-31

Project Objectives：

1. Establish a commercial breeding model for Surubi fish; breed 600,000 fish of optimized species of Surubi fish
2. Development of breeding species diversity technology; 400,000 juveniles of Boga were produced for trial breeding; Parana river salmon and freshwater shrimp were collected and cultivated for experimental research, and their breeding and breeding process was established.
3. Provide guidance on sustainable and diversified farming models for commercial production.

Executing Agency：

Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Paraguay / Aquaculture Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Paraguay) / School of Veterinary Sciences, National University of Asunción (Paraguay)

Current Progress：

To the end of June 2023, the following activities have been completed:
1. Produced 7,000 surubí fries.
2. Conducted breeding experiments for boga, Paraná salmon, and produced 2,700 freshwater shrimp fries.
3. Developed 3 sales channels for local farmers (including 2 fishing grounds and 1 market) with 3.7 metric tons of capacity so far (including 1.1 tons of tilapia, 2.3 tons of pomfret, 100 kg of surubí and 200 kg of processed aquatic products). 
4. Constructed 10 new outdoor plastic ponds at the University of Asunción.

Project Contact：Elisa, Yu-chi CHANG

Phone：+886-2-28886051

E-mail：yc.chang@icdf.org.tw

Projected Benefits：

Breed 600,000 fry of the optimized species of Surubi, 400,000 fry of the Boga for trial breeding guidance, collect and cultivate Parana river salmon and freshwater shrimp for experimental research, and establish their breeding and breeding process.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Paraguay