Agriculture Business Week

A team of MMSU researchers led by Zaldy A. Fernandez has developed a portable 2-in-1 fish smoking device that smokes and dries fish as well. Other members of the team are W.G. Bermudez, Dr. Lulu M. Valera, Associate Prof. Marilyn P. Domingo, T. Taclan, and P. Llamas.

The portable smoke house was developed to improve the traditional way of smoking and drying fish in the Ilocos, which is considered very crude and unsanitary, oftentimes prone to dirt and contamination. The device also ensures the quality of the products. It is easy and economical to operate and could be used in roasting other products like meat and tupig (a kind of rice cake).

Locally available stainless galvanized iron and round bars are used in the construction of the MMSU portable smoke house. It stands 1.83 meters tall with a circumference of 2.44 meters. A 3:2 mixture of charcoal and sawdust can be used to generate heat of about 148.8°C. One load needs 5 kg of the charcoal-sawdust mixture. The device has three parts: combustion chamber, body, and head.
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Posted on January 6th, 2009 under Aquaculture. Tags: Fish, Fish Smoking, Smoking. Comments: None

The continuous rise of our population and the imminent effects of global warming and ocean acidification are dangerous threats to our diminishing fish catch.

If within five to lo years from now you won’t see fish anymore in your plate or restaurant menus, don’t be surprised. Blame the current surging population for that. Currently, the Philippines is home to almost 90 million people. “About 62% of the population lives in the coastal zone,” says the Philippine Environment Monitor published by the World Bank.

The Philippines has one of the highest population growth rates in the world, with an average annual rate of increase of 2.75% during the last century. Estimates show that if the present rapid population growth and declining trend in fish production continue, only lo kilograms of fish will be available per Filipino per year by 2010, as opposed to 28.5 kilograms per year in 2003.

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Posted on December 4th, 2008 under Aquaculture. Tags: Fish. Comments: None

Many years back, the government passed a law prohibiting the export of bangus fry or fingerlings. That’s understandable because at that time the only fingerlings available to local growers were the fry caught from the wild. If fingerlings were allowed to he exported, the often seasonal, and scarce supply would be further depleted to the jeopardy of local raisers.

Up to this time, not a single fingerling may be allowed to be exported. One fisheries expert believes, however, that the time has come to allow the export of bangus fry. The fellow is Rene Bocaya, the marketing manager of the country’s biggest fish hatchery, the Finfish Hatcheries, Inc. based in Sarangani province in Southern Mindanao. The hatchery is now producing some 800 million Sarangani bangus fry a year.

Bocaya explains that the bangus industry requires a yearly supply of 2.5 billion fingerlings. While the total production of fry from local sources is not enough to meet all the requirements, it makes sense to allow the export of locally produced fingerlings today. Aside from Finfish Hatcheries, there are other smaller bangus hatcheries in Pangasinan, Negros Oriental, Iloilo (two), and Bohol. While these hatcheries, as of the moment, cannot meet total requirements of local growers, the Philippines is importing a lot of cheaper fingerlings from Indonesia.

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Posted on November 28th, 2008 under Aquaculture. Tags: Bangus, Fish, Milkfish. Comments: None

Fishpond operators may now feel more secured on the health of shrimps as a facility that can easily detect diseases on shrimps is now operational at the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NITFDC) in Brgy. Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City.

Equipped with imported sophisticated equipment, the Animal Fish Health Laboratory is only the second of its kind in the Philippines, according to Dr. Wesley Rosario, executive director of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute(NFPRDI) in Dagupan City. The firs laboratory is at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center(SEAFDEC) in Tigbauan Iloilo.

Dr. Rosario said fish farmers can bring to the laboratory samples of shrimps that they intend to buy for detection of possible diseases. The laboratory will check if the shrimps being raised by farmers are infected with viruses that can spread to other fish farms and seriously affect the industry as a whole.

In short, the facility could prevent the spread of the Taura Syndrome, the most destructive shrimp disease, which was first detected in the Nile River.

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Posted on November 26th, 2008 under Aquaculture. Tags: Fish, Shrimp. Comments: None

A scientist who developed the technology of transporting live fish to distant places is eyeing the possibility of tuna ranching, which could tremendously increase the value of the fish.

He is Dr. Bonifacio Comandante of Dumaguete City whose technology could put fish (such as lapu-lapu, seabass and also vannamei and tiger prawns) to sleep while in transit and then awakened upon reaching their destination.

His prize-winning technology adds tremendous value to the marine products because live fish and prawns command much higher prices than the dead ones. ‘ For instance, live vannamei will often retail at P600 per kilo while the dead counterpart may only fetch half the price. The same could be true with lapu-lapu and other species.

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Posted on November 20th, 2008 under Aquaculture. Tags: Fish, Tuna. Comments: None

Throughout the past centuries, man sourced its animal protein through hunting or fishing. And in many parts of the world, the main source of animal protein for humans is finfish. However, with fish catch getting smaller from marine waters because of dramatic decline of natural fish stocks caused by increased in fishing pressure and the increase in fish consumption by ever swelling population, especially as the more affluent consumers in the developed countries become more aware of the beneficial effects of fish to one’s health (marine fish is the excellent source of polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids). It is expected that the demand for fish will continue to increase and the only alternative is to farm this sea creature in captivity, i.e. engaging in all aspects of aquaculture activities (from broodstock rearing, hatchery, nursery and grow-out farming).

Turning around the aforementioned problem as an opportunity, the government through its technical agency, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) created a mariculture development program and initially selected suitable sites for 16 Mariculture Parks in 2006. At the present time, there are 36 mariculture parks established in almost all regions of the country. Mariculture parks are seaside equivalent of industrial estates. The aim of the program is to:

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Posted on October 17th, 2008 under Aquaculture. Tags: Fish. Comments: None

One of the many ways to help ensure the supply of fish is to avoid catching them at immature stage. But in these times when fish caught from the sea are getting smaller in size and quantity; how would you advise a fisherman not to catch those baby fish? Or as a consumer, how would you know if the fish you have just bought from the market were supposed to be harvested or not.

To answer these, Fishworld Center whose office in the Philippines is based in Los Banos, Laguna has suggested the use of fish ruler, a simple tool designed for advanced fisheries management.

Fish ruler helps fishermen measure the minimum length of fish ready for harvest. It can also be used to educate them to determine the minimum mesh size for their nets.

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Posted on October 1st, 2008 under Aquaculture, Technology. Tags: Fish, Fish Ruler. Comments: None

There’s a growing interest in growing high-value finfishes like seabass, pompano, mangrove snapper and lapu-lapu or grouper. These can be grown in seacages or in ponds. And the good news is that fingerlings are now available not from the wild but from the hatchery. Therefore, the fingerlings are available throughout the year.

Fingerlings can now be sourced from Finfish Hatcheries, Inc., a member of the Alcantara Group of Companies, based in Alabel, Sarangani province. The company also provides useful pointers in growing these high-priced species.

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Posted on September 29th, 2008 under Agri Tips, Aquaculture. Tags: Finfishes, Fish. Comments: None

Laguna De Bay or Laguna Lake is the country’s largest freshwater body with an area of 90,000 hectares. It serves as an important resource for, fisheries, transport, water supply, and catch basin for 14 cities and 47 towns in five provinces of Metro Manila and Southern Luzon.

Being a productive lake with an average depth of 2.8 meters and heavy nutrient input from surrounding areas, Laguna de Bay provided a total fisheries catch of 321,000 metric tons consisting of 25 percent of fishes and 75 percent of shrimps and mollusks to 17,000 fisherfolk who depended on it for subsistence and livelihood in the early `60s.

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Posted on September 29th, 2008 under Aquaculture. Tags: Fish, Fishpens. Comments: None