Tilapia Fish 50 Att Laos Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making

Tilapia Fish 50 Att Laos Authentic Coin Charm for Jewelry and Craft Making

Obverse: Coat of Arms of Laos (1975-1991 version, i.e. before the fall of the Soviet Union)
Lettering: "ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ"
Translation: Lao People's Democratic Republic

Reverse: Denomination in Arabic and Lao numbers.
Tilapia Fish and date flanked, by palm trees.

Lettering: 50 ຫ້າສິບອັດ
Translation: 50 (symbols 5 (ຫ້າ) and 10 (ສິບ)) att (ອັດ)

Features
Issuer Laos
Period People’s Democratic Republic (1975-date)
Type Standard circulation coin
Year 1980
Value 50 Att
0.5 LAK = USD 0.000035
Currency Lao PDR Kip (1979-date)
Composition Aluminium
Weight 2.5000 g
Diameter 26 mm
Thickness 1.95 mm
Shape Round
Technique Milled
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Number N# 5532
References KM# 24, Schön# 21

Wikipedia:
The fishing industry in the land-locked country of Laos is a major source of sustenance and food security to its people dwelling near rivers, reservoirs and ponds. Apart from wild capture fisheries, which is a major component of fish production, aquaculture and stocking are significant developments in the country. Historically, fishing activity was recorded in writings on the gate and walls of the Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang dated 1560. For many Laotians, freshwater fish are the principal source of protein. The percentage of people involved in regular fishing activity is very small, only near major rivers or reservoirs, as for most of the fishers it is a part-time activity.

Aquaculture
There are four types of aquaculture practices in the country. These are: cage culture with cages made of steel frames, cages of bamboo or net or wood; rice-fish culture in irrigated areas; pond culture in small ponds created in rural areas in lowland areas, basically to meet family requirements; and the rain-fed culture in irrigated paddy lands in agricultural fields under suitable agro-climatic conditions. In cage culture the fish catches are species of tilapia (90% sex reversed), snakehead (Channa micropeltis) and (Channa striata), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and pangasius (Pangasius bocourti). Under rice-fish culture the fish species are Cyprinus carpio and Carassius auratus, and Oreochromis. In 2007 the yield from aquaculture was reported to be 54,750 tonnes from an area of more than 42,000 ha, inclusive of cage culture from the Mekong and some of its tributaries.

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https://www.struanstevenson.com/news-and-views/articles/laos-land-opportunity-fish-farmers

Laos - A land of opportunity for fish farmers
The following article appeared on PM Blog(link is external) on 17 December 2013:

Imagine a country rich in biodiversity, bathed in sunshine, welcoming to inward investors and with a population of kind and thoughtful people who must be among the friendliest on the planet and you will begin to get an understanding of Laos. Tucked away in South East Asia, landlocked between Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and China, Laos has a population of only 6.5 million, but it is growing rapidly and is expected to reach 8 million by 2020.

Unusually, for a landlocked country, the people of Laos consume a great deal of fish. Every Laotian eats around 30 kg of fish and aquatic products like frogs, snails and crabs, per year, compared to an average of 20 kg per person in Europe. The fish comes from the mighty Mekong River and its tributaries which dissect the country. Unbelievably, there are more fish in the Mekong River than in the whole of the North Sea, but with a growing population and greater demand for fish, even the mighty Mekong will not be able to meet the needs of the Lao people. The government of Laos needs to double aquaculture production from 100,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes per year. They look with envy at the success of their neighbours in Vietnam who export over 150,000 tonnes of Pangasius (catfish) fillets to the EU every year and they are determined to emulate that success. But first they have to produce enough fish to feed their own people.

There are 5 different kinds of aquaculture currently prevalent in Laos including the production of rice and fish grown together, fish ponds, cages, hatcheries and integrated livestock and fish operations. Already a few enterprising and bigger-scale fish farmers have appeared on the scene. Three Lao brothers run a major business on the Gnum River near the capital city Vientiane. They are fattening common carp in over 50 cages, employing 15 staff. Common carp can grow to 10 to 20 kg at maturity.
About one hour’s drive outside Vientiane, there is a major hatchery comprising many concrete tanks and ponds. The owner - a Lao woman - imported spawn from China and Russia and produces a wide variety of fingerlings of tilapia, common carp, catfish, aquarium fish and even soft-shell turtles. She supplies fingerlings to pond, cage, rice cum fish and oxbow lake enterprises for growing on to maturity.

There is a successful rainbow trout farm in the north of Laos and near the old capital, the stunning UNESCO world heritage city of Luang Prabang, the biggest tilapia hatchery in Laos is run by former prawn trawler skipper Andrew Hepburn from Fraserburgh, in Scotland. He produces over one and a half million tilapia fingerlings a year to sell on to subsistence farmers, who raise them to maturity in cages and ponds to feed their families. Andrew Hepburn aims to open another hatchery near the Thai border next year to produce an additional 1 million tilapia fingerlings and he is even installing his own cages to raise fish to maturity. Tilapia fatten rapidly feeding on river and pond weeds and algae and Andrew has shown the Lao villagers how to use pig dung to fertilise their ponds to help the growth of algae, which can then sustain large numbers of fish.

There are a multitude of opportunities for enterprising fish farmers in Laos. The Mekong River has 14 tributaries and many ponds and reservoirs associated with hydro-power projects. All are crying out for exploitation by fish farmers. The government says that there is a massive 1.2 million hectares of water available for aquaculture in Laos, out of which only 40,000 hectares is currently used for that purpose, mostly in wetland areas.

80% of the economy of Laos is agriculture based and the government’s vision is for exports of fish and farm products, but as a desperately poor country (over one third of the population live below the international poverty line of $1.25c per day) they have no money to invest in new technology or equipment to help the expansion of these key sectors. They want to expand fish farming in 17 provinces, but at $5 per kg to purchase fingerlings, the government of Laos says it is too expensive for farmers to diversify.

There are only 5 or 6 species of fish that can be bred domestically for human consumption, but as well as a lack of finance, there is a lack of knowledge on how to increase their number. Most farmed fish are reared to maturity during the rainy season, which lasts for many months in Laos. The ponds and reservoirs that fill up during this period provide the perfect environment for subsistence fish farmers who grow the fish only for domestic use. The government of Laos needs help to expand expertise, expand production and even, eventually to start a fish export trade like Vietnam. They have introduced new laws which should attract inward investors, offering good terms for land acquisition and tax breaks for up to ten years for successful businesses.

With the economy growing at a rate of 8.1% annually and with average inflation at around 5.8%, Laos is a beautiful land of rich and diverse opportunities, particularly for pioneering fish farmers.

STRUAN STEVENSON, MEP

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Wikipedia:
The National Emblem of the Lao People's Democratic Republic shows the national shrine Pha That Luang. A dam is pictured which as a symbol of power generation at the reservoir Nam Ngum. An asphalt street is also pictured, as well as a stylized watered field.

In the lower part is a section of a gear wheel. The inscription on the left reads "Peace, Independence, Democracy" (Lao script: ສັນຕິພາບ ເອກະລາດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ) and on the right, "Unity and Prosperity" (Lao script: ເອກະພາບ ວັດຖະນາຖາວອນ.)

History
The coat of arms was changed in August 1991 in relation to the fall of the Soviet Union. The Communist red star and hammer and sickle were replaced with the national shrine at Pha That Luang. The coat of arms is specified in the Laotian constitution:

The National Emblem of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is a circle depicting in the bottom part one-half of a cog wheel and red ribbon with inscriptions [of the words] "Lao People's Democratic Republic", and [flanked by] crescent-shaped stalks of fully ripened rice at both sides and red ribbons bearing the inscription "Peace, Independence, Democracy, Unity, Prosperity". A picture of Pha That Luang Pagoda is located between the tips of the stalks of rice. A road, a paddy field, a forest and a hydroelectric dam are depicted in the middle of the circle.

— Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, § 90