Copyright @ 2022, Indonesian Aquaculture Journal, p-ISSN 0215-0883; e-ISSN 2502-6577 87 Indonesian Aquaculture Journal, 17 (2), 2022, 87-96 # Correspondence: Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2 (RIA2) 116 Nguyen Dinh Chieu street, district I, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam E-mail: tranhuuphuc30@gmail.com Available online at: http://ejournal-balitbang.kkp.go.id/index.php/iaj DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15578/iaj.17.2.2022.87-96 GENETIC PARAM ETERS OF FIELD SURVIVAL IN STRIPED CATFISH (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus ) Nguyen Van Sang *) , Tran Huu Phuc *)# , Nguyen Thanh Vu *) , Kasigwa Howard Nelson **) , Vo Thi Hong Tham *) , Pham Dang Khoa *) , and Nguyen Dinh Hung *) *) Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2 (RIA2) 116 Nguyen Dinh Chieu street, district 1, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam **) National Agricultural Research Organization Plot 11-13, Lugard Avenue, P.O. Box 295, Entebbe, Uganda (Received: June 10, 2021; Final revision: August 18, 2022; Accepted: August 18, 2022) ABSTRACT Grow-out or field survival (GS) is one of the most important traits of striped catfish. Genetic parameters of GS in generation 4 of the growth selected population of this species were estimated based on the data of 8,004 tagged and stocked and 6,410 harvested fish representing 152 full-sib and half-sib families. The heritability and estimated and realized correlated responses for GS, its phenotypic or genetic correlations with harvest weight (HW) and other growth traits, and direct realized response for HW were calculated. The low and significantly different from zero heritability for GS (0.12± 0.05) was estimated. The medium positive and no significant difference from zero genetic correlation between GS and HW was found, 0.41± 0.24. The estimated selection responses with the proposed selection proportion of 13.0%for GS was 8.5%in trait unit. Current and accumulated correlated selection responses for GS were -7.8%and -1.6% , and 25.5%and 47.6% , respectively, by Estimated Breeding Value and Least Square Means estimation methods. In addition to these results, the high heritability and direct estimated and realized responses for HW pose a great potential for applying multi-trait selection, including both GS and HW in G4 and in the long run. KEYWORDS: field survival; genetic parameters; growth rate; striped catfish INTRODUCTION Large-scale family-based genetic improvement pro- grams, now established as the standard for genetic improvement of aquaculture species, were first de- veloped for some high-value salmonid species and Nile tilapia reviewed by Gjedrem & AKVAFORSK (2005) and recently expanded in some other species world- wide such as white leg shrimp, black tiger shrimp, carps, catfish, mollusk and marine fish. There were many important traits estimated and selected, such as growth, survival, disease resistance, environmen- tal tolerance, fillet yield, early maturation and so on. Both main desirable traits, growth rate and grow-out survival, determined as production yield, profit and economic return of the industry were considered, estimated and included in the selection program of several species worldwide, such as black tiger shrimp (Krishna et al., 2011; Nguyen, 2010), white leg shrimp (Zhang et al. , 2017), freshwater prawn (Vu et al., 2017), rainbow trout (Vehviläinen et al., 2008), com- mon carp (Dong et al., 2015), tilapia (Thodesen et al., 2013; Ninh et al., 2014) and abalone (Liu et al., 2015). Striped catfish ( Pangasianodon hypophthalmus ) is one of the most widely traded fish commodities in the world that originates from pond farming in a single locality of the Mekong Delta which is in the south- ern part of Vietnam (De Silva & Phuong, 2011). Striped catfish was the highest in Vietnam aquaculture pro- duction and reached 1.56 million tonnes, and the second biggest in export value and reached 1.5 billion USD in 2020, according to a report from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP, 2020). Selective breeding of striped catfish was started in 2001, and economically important traits were se- lected, such as growth rate and recently disease re- sistance to Bacillary Necrosis of Pangasius (BNP) caused by bacteria Edwardsiella ictaluri , and estimated