Realizing that the demand for eel meat consumption is increasing, while natural eel sources are decreasing, from 2020, Mr. Le Thanh Yen (in Hoi An 1 residential group, Tra Cau ward, Quang Ngai province) proactively learned about the mudless eel farming model through the internet, newspapers and learned experiences from localities inside and outside the province.
After a period of research, he decided to invest in building a model right on his homeland.
Traditional eel farming depends heavily on the natural environment, making it difficult to control diseases. Meanwhile, farming without mud helps manage better and has fewer risks," Mr. Yen shared.
In the early stages, Mr. Yen built 3-4 tanks, then increased to 10 tanks. Each tank has an area of about 6 m2, about 60 cm high. The tanks are built of solid cement inside the house, with corrugated iron roofs, drilled holes for drainage and waste filtration.
Specialized feed for eels is imported from Gia Lai province. Each tank releases from 4,000-5,000 juveniles, costing more than 10 million VND/pond. The farming time from 9-12 months can be sold, with a commercial size of about 3 eels/kg.
On average, 5,000 breeds when raised meet standards yield about 1 ton of eels. With 2 tanks, the amount of feed consumed is about 1 ton of bran throughout the farming process.
Sharing about the eel farming process, Mr. Le Thanh Yen said that compared to many other types of livestock, raising mudless eels does not take much time and effort to care for.
“Mainly feeding eels twice a day, in the morning and evening. In addition, monitoring water sources and periodic cleaning of farming tanks is quite easy, and there is still time to do other jobs. The most important thing is to keep the water environment clean and stable, then eels will develop well,” Mr. Yen said.
According to Mr. Yen, the output of products is relatively stable, mainly purchased by traders from Nghe An province at an average price of about 90 million VND/ton.
Thanks to the correct application of technical procedures, Mr. Yen's mudless eel farming model brings clear economic efficiency. In 2024, the output reached about 4 tons of commercial eels. In 2025, the total output reached about 8 tons, with estimated revenue of 720 million VND, profit of about 200 million VND after deducting expenses.
Up to now, Mr. Yen has mastered the model on an area of about 300 m2, with more than 20 eel meat tanks, raising nearly 80,000 juveniles of various sizes. It is expected that in the near future, the scale will be increased to more than 100,000 juveniles.
Not only focusing on economic development for his family, Mr. Le Thanh Yen is also willing to share experience and techniques for raising mudless eels with many farming households in Tra Cau ward.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Tra Cau ward - said that the mudless eel farming model of Mr. Le Thanh Yen's family is one of the new models with high economic value in the ward. Currently, 3 farming households have come to visit and learn to replicate the model, contributing to improving people's income.
The success of Mr. Le Thanh Yen's mudless eel farming model not only affirms the effectiveness of the new direction in livestock structure transformation, but also creates motivation for Tra Cau ward farmers to boldly innovate production thinking, promote the spirit of creativity, rise up to get rich legitimately, contributing to building an increasingly developed homeland," Mr. Tuan emphasized.
