Historical and current trends in milkfish farming in the Philippines
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the historical and current practices of milkfish farming in the Philippines. The Philippines ranks among the top 12 largest fish producers in the world and the milkfish, Chanos chanos, is the official national fish. The milkfish production in the Philippines has fluctuated sharply, but on average, has relatively stagnated over the past decade, partly due to the shrimp boom and low price of milkfish. The milkfish industry has been responsible for the significant loss of valuable mangrove swamps and forests. The loss of mangrove means loss of habitats and biodiversity including nursery grounds for feeding and refuge of commercial fishes, shrimps, crabs and mollusks. Milkfish ponds in the Philippines are either privately owned or leased from the government. Brackish water fish ponds are valuable real estate and good management adds to their value. For milkfish farming, stocking rate should be based on the pond environment and carrying capacity, and the fish size at stocking and the market size desired.
Citation
Bagarinao, T. (1998). Historical and current trends in milkfish farming in the Philippines. In S. S. de Silva (Ed.), Tropical Mariculture (pp. 381-422). London: Academic Press.
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Academic PressSubject
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Conference paper
Larviculture of milkfish (Chanos chanos) in outdoor tanks
- In CL Marte, GF Quinitio & AC Emata (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seminar-Workshop on Breeding and Seed Production of Cultured Finfishes in the Philippines, Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines, 4-5 May 1993, 1996 - SEAFDEC Aquaculture DepartmentIn the past, larviculture of milkfish depended entirely on the use of rotifers and brine shrimp nauplii and rearing trials were done under roofed facilities. Since the dietary value of live food varies according to culture and feeding conditions, rotifers were enriched with SELCO, a lipid emulsion containing high levels of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) prior to feeding the larvae. Alternatively, a microbound larval feed (Nosan R-1) was given as a supplement to rotifers during the first two weeks of culture. Larval growth was enhanced and survival was significantly improved when rotifers were enriched or supplemented with these diets. All rearing trials were conducted in 5-10 tons concrete circular/rectangular outdoor tanks. Verification runs on the use of HUFA-enriched rotifers to milkfish larvae were tried in two nearby private hatcheries. Results from mis collaborative work are presented. -
Article
Polyculture of milkfish Chanos chanos (Forsskal) and the red seaweed Gracilariopsis bailinae (Zhang et Xia) in brackish water earthen ponds
-Aquaculture Research , 2004 - Wiley-BlackwellGrowth, net production, and survival rates of milkfish cultured with Gracilariopsis bailinae at two stocking density combinations (T1– 30 fingerlings 100-m−2 pond+1-kg G. bailinae 4-m−2 net cage, T2– 30 fingerlings 100-m−2 pond+2-kg G. bailinae 4-m−2 net cage) in brackish water earthen ponds over four culture periods were determined. The control (T3) was stocked at 30 fingerlings 100-m−2 pond. Specific growth and production rates of G. bailinae were also calculated. There were no significant differences in mean growth, survival, and net production rates of milkfish between the three treatments. Irrespective of stocking singly or in combination with G. bailinae, significantly higher mean growth and mean production rates for milkfish were obtained during the third culture period of year 1 than those obtained from the other culture periods. Survival rates were not significantly different among the four culture periods. There were no significant differences in mean specific growth and mean net production rates between the two stocking densities of G. bailinae. Significantly higher mean specific growth and mean net production rates of red seaweed were also obtained during the third culture period of year 1 than those obtained from other culture periods. The production of milkfish and red seaweed was higher during the dry season. Growth rates of milkfish was positively correlated with temperature and salinity, while net production rates were positively correlated with temperature and total rainfall, but was inversely correlated with dissolved oxygen. G. bailinae growth and net production rates were positively correlated with water temperature and salinity. Results show that milkfish can be polycultured with G. bailinae grown in net cages in brackish water ponds at stocking density combination of 30 fingerlings 100-m−2 pond+1-kg G. bailinae 4-m−2 net cage. -
Article
Increasing milkfish (Chanos chanos) yields in brackishwater ponds through increased stocking rates and supplementary feeding
-Asian Fisheries Science , 1990 - Asian Fisheries SocietyBrackishwater milkfish culture in the Philippines is normally practiced at fish stocking rates of 2,000-3,000 ha-1 with fertilizers as the sole nutrient input. Supplementary feeding is not common. We stocked two 1-ha ponds with 6,000 fish and another two 1-ha ponds with 9,000 fish with an average weight of 2 g. The fish at each stocking rate were given diets with two different energy levels (2,950 and 3,265 kcal•kg-1) at 3% body weight, on the second and third month of culture. An average of 0.69 and 1.04 t were produced at 6,000 and 9,000 ha-1, respectively. Low temperature and dissolved oxygen levels appeared to limit the growth of milkfish masking the effect of dietary energy. The results suggest that supplementary feeding can have a marked effect on milkfish yield when stocking rates are 6,000 ha-1 or above.
