The Mekong fish, generally referred to as Basa fish, is an important freshwater aquaculture species in Southeast Asian countries, and a high-quality economic fish unique to the Mekong River Basin, which is phonetically translated into Vietnamese as "Kabasa," meaning "three pieces of fat fish," because it accumulates three large pieces of oil in its abdominal cavity during its growth. The name "Kabasha" means "three pieces of fat fish" because the fish accumulates three large pieces of fat in its abdominal cavity during its growth.

The Mekong fish has a scaly, rounded body, a blue-black back, and a whiter belly; the head is flat and wide, the belly is narrow, and the muscles on the side of the body are thicker than the edible part. The round head is flattened and wide, the end is round and wide, with fleshy and white whiskers around the muzzle. There are dark bands on the sides of the body and a darker caudal fin.

It has the advantages of fast growth, large size, high yield, wide eating habits, easy to feed, white and tender meat, delicious flavor, rich in nutrients, no small intermuscular spines, and conducive to processing. It is often sold as lobster, snapper, cod and other marine fish.

Expanded Information:

Status of Mekong Fish Consumption:

The mainstream consumer market has always been Europe and the United States, and other countries, but after 2015, China gradually showed momentum to catch up, and became the world's largest consumer market in 2017. Relevant data show that in 2017, China imported from abroad, accounting for about 23% of the global production of balsa fish, a small number of domestic distribution in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan farming production is completely unable to meet the market demand, and there are a variety of farming modes in various regions.