On Davids recent trip to Thailand it was a rare honor to be be invited to visit Mr Leks Farm. Mr Lek is the last of the original pioneers of shark farming.

Shark Farming started 45 years ago and proir to this all sharks were wild caught. It took a further 15 years before farming sharks became self sufficient. Over the last 30 years no further stocks have been taken from the wild.

For three hours Mr Lek showed us around his farm and answered openly all the many questions we threw at him. The farm is situated 2 hours south of Bangkok and consisted of many concrete ponds 10m x 15m x 3m deep for growing the fish, the spawning takes place in smaller vats indoors.

While we were freely given all the details on spawning and rearing the fish, this unfortunately will not help us breed fish in the aquaria.

Firstly the fish will only spawn during the rainy season, this is obvioulsy not easy to replicate. For the weeks and months leading up to the rainy season the fish are very well fed and got into top condition.

Generally the size of the brood stock used for Ruby and Redtail Sharks is 4" and for Silver Sharks 8".

The most successful system used involved striping the eggs and sperm of the fish by hand. This is a very delicate process that Mr Leks farm had perfected over the last 45 years.

The fry are then kept in the concrete indoor nursery for 1 or 2 weeks before being transferred outside to be grown on ready to be sold.