The striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypopthalmus) industry is the largest finfish aquaculture industry in Vietnam and produces over 1 million tonnes per year. The long-term sustainability and continued productivity will depend on the ongoing availability of high-quality genetics throughout the sector. To date the industry has benefitted from a government-run selective breeding program for over 15 years (Vu et al. 2019), however as the industry evolves a desire to develop commercial programs has emerged. We outline the development of a family-based selective breeding program established in 2017 and estimate the genetic parameters for growth traits (weight and length), carcass quality traits (fillet yield, red muscle content) and general survival. Founder individuals from four sources were used to establish the population through multiple spawning events. Strip-spawning was conducted twice-yearly to create full-sib families using a 2x2 mating design, whereby each male is crossed with two females and each female crossed with two males. Routine grow-out trials were conducted in lined ponds and data capture workflows developed and are described. Variance components and heritabilities for key traits were estimated using REML and an individual animal model (Harvest weight: h2 = 0.44 ± 0.04; Red muscle %: h2 = 0.23 ± 0.03; Fillet yield: h2 = 0.37 ± 0.03). Genetic improvement for harvest weight was 7% per year across a four-year period using an Optimal Contributions approach for selection of broodstock and management of inbreeding accumulation. Key lessons are discussed throughout and highlight the value of data collection and management systems and the value of well-trained field staff to the overall success of the breeding program implementation. We conclude by outlining several emerging opportunities for continued improvement of the program, including the investigation of new traits and the implementation genomic selection.