Magazine and Newsletter Articles by SEAFDEC/AQD Staffhttp://hdl.handle.net/10862/35322024-03-29T12:47:00Z2024-03-29T12:47:00ZBoosting the sustainability of aquaculture feed for the lucrative business of mangrove crab grow-out cultureBautista-Teruel, Myrna N.Licera, Rhiannen Marie C.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/74302024-01-02T07:59:37Z2023-12-01T00:00:00ZBoosting the sustainability of aquaculture feed for the lucrative business of mangrove crab grow-out culture
Bautista-Teruel, Myrna N.; Licera, Rhiannen Marie C.
Conventional feeds for mangrove crab (Scylla serrata) are highly fixated on the use of fish-by-products (FBC) and other slaughter wastes. These feeds, however, are highly polluting that can easily cause water quality spoilage, and may affect the health of the mangrove crab. They can likewise bring about problems in supply shortage, reliability in quality, and as carriers of disease agents.
In order to support the sustainability of the mangrove crab industry in Southeast Asia, there is a need to produce an efficient and viable aquaculture feed for this species. Although SEAFDEC has started venturing into researches with emphasis on crab feed development, it was deemed necessary to work on further improvement of feed formulation with the inclusion of ingredients that are less expensive based on published nutritional requirements and physical properties of mangrove crab.
This study assessed the efficiency of the refined crab feed in land-based tanks. Refinement of this feed formulation focused on partial replacement of fishmeal with alternative ingredients such as mussel meat meal. Cholesterol was added to refined crab feed to improve molting processes affecting the growth of the animal (Coloso et al., 2017). The same diet was evaluated for its proximate composition, water stability, amino acid and fatty acid compositions, digestibility of nutrients, attractability and palatability, and its biological effects on cultured mangrove crabs. Overall, results indicated that refined crab feed can potentially be used as sole feed for the grow-out culture of crabs as it can enhance the animals’ growth and survival in tanks.
2023-12-01T00:00:00ZBlack tiger shrimp revival program stepping up at AQDhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/74222023-11-29T06:53:19Z2023-11-01T00:00:00ZBlack tiger shrimp revival program stepping up at AQD
As a highlight of its 50th anniversary, the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (AQD) inaugurated its new Black Tiger Shrimp Broodstock Facility in Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines on 3 July 2023. The biosecure facility was built to reduce reliance on wild shrimp spawners that often carry diseases which are then passed on to their eggs and larvae. Its four 120-ton broodstock tanks, with a combined holding facility of 1,440 fully-grown breeders, are projected to produce 80 million postlarvae annually. More importantly, it is hoped to be a source of disease-free captive broodstock which is critical to achieving high survival rates and the production of high-quality postlarvae in the hatchery.
2023-11-01T00:00:00ZAchieving high production of micropropagated seaweed through optimization of the culture protocolSollesta-Pitogo, HananiahFaisan, Joseph P., Jr.de la Cruz-Aranas, Joesyl Marie V.http://hdl.handle.net/10862/64592023-08-08T02:28:43Z2023-07-01T00:00:00ZAchieving high production of micropropagated seaweed through optimization of the culture protocol
Sollesta-Pitogo, Hananiah; Faisan, Joseph P., Jr.; de la Cruz-Aranas, Joesyl Marie V.
Kappaphycus and Eucheuma are the two carrageenanproducing red algae extensively cultured and farmed in tropical and subtropical waters. Seaweed production accounted for 5.4 percent of the world’s aquaculture production in 2019, which was over USD 15 billion in value. With this value share, the production of seaweed farming was higher than other aquatic commodities, such as tilapia, carp, shrimps, and others (Cai et al., 2021). The red algae production of the Philippines started in the 1960s (Ronquillo & Gabral-Llana, 1989), and by the early 2000s, the country had become the world’s top supplier of seaweed, particularly Kappaphycus sp., until 2007, when Indonesia outperformed it.
Problems and challenges in seaweed farming, including climate change, pests and diseases, and biosecurity issues, caused the continuous decline of the seaweed production yield (Faisan, Sollesta-Pitogo, & de la Peña, 2022). Furthermore, the deterioration of seaweed quality caused by the repetitive use of vegetative cutting methods has also become one of the most pressing concerns in seaweed farming. Unfortunately, this procedure of growing plantlets for farming is one of the most common methods many seaweed farms used in the Philippines and other countries.
Research in SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (AQD) looks into breaking from the conventional method of farming seaweed plantlets and optimizing laboratorybased production. With this, it hopes to create a more sustainable source of propagules, better growth and survival in grow-out, and a higher carrageenan quality in cultured Kappaphycus alvarezii.
2023-07-01T00:00:00ZPromoting tropical eel culture in the Philippines: Comparative performance of Anguilla bicolor pacifica and A. marmorata in captivityAya, Frolanhttp://hdl.handle.net/10862/64152023-02-08T06:38:52Z2023-02-01T00:00:00ZPromoting tropical eel culture in the Philippines: Comparative performance of Anguilla bicolor pacifica and A. marmorata in captivity
Aya, Frolan
Eel aquaculture is an important activity in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, and Viet Nam. With the decline in the wild fishery stock of cold-water eel species (European eel Anguilla anguilla, Japanese eel A. japonica, and American eel A. rostrata (Tatsukawa, 2003; Gómez-Limia et al., 2022), there has been an increasing interest in the culture of tropical eel species as an export commodity. In the Philippines, species of anguillid eels cultured are mainly the Pacific shortfin eel A. bicolor pacifica and the giant mottled eel A. marmorata. Anguilla bicolor pacifica is now being considered as an alternative to A. japonica (Muthmainnah et al., 2016), being the most preferred eel species for consumption in East Asian countries. However, A. marmorata, which comprised the bulk of the wild glass eel catch in the Cagayan River, Philippines, has rarely been cultured as an export commodity. Comparison of performance and feed utilization may provide relevant information on the culture requirements of these two eel species under cage conditions.
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