Increasing milkfish (Chanos chanos) yields in brackishwater ponds through increased stocking rates and supplementary feeding

Abstract

Brackishwater 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.