Application of the United States Soybean Export Council program's soy-optimized floating feeds and low volume, high density cage aquaculture technologies

Abstract

The United States Soybean Export Council s (USSEC) Soy-In-Aquaculture (SIA) project in the Philippines introduced the Low Volume High Density (LVHD) cage culture production methodology in 2003. The aim of this technology is to maximize farmers profit, improve productivity, reduce feed conversion ratios (FCR) and limit environmental degradation. The Philippine fish farmers were very conservative and hesitant about adopting the USSEC SIA Low Volume High Density (LVHD) cage culture technology, particularly the new feeding techniques using extruded floating feeds. This conservative attitude was highlighted with different projects using Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), milkfish (Chanos chanos) and snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii) in USSEC SIA LVHD cage feeding demonstrations conducted in different commercial farms in the Philippines.