Implementation Status of the Research Components (March - August 2002)

Component 1 - Profile of Key Aquaculture Technologies and Fishing Practices

Philippines

Freshwater Aquaculture

Tilapia is the major freshwater cultured species accounting for 63% of the total freshwater aquaculture production in the country. Milkfish and carps are not as widely cultured in freshwater environments as tilapia. Production of milkfish from freshwater is decreasing at an average annual rate of 2%. Carps are considered newcomers in the Philippines and the production statistics of carp species are lumped together with those of other species. It is only recently that the country started to keep track of the production performance of carp species. Although the production of carp is not 1% that of tilapia, it expanded at an average annual growth rate of 55% during 1993-1997⁶. It is expected that carp will have tremendous potential in the Philippines.

Monoculture of tilapia in cages is more productive, capital intensive and profitable than that in ponds. On average, the yield of tilapia from cage monoculture is around 540 kg.100(m²)^-1 with total cost of production of US$ 462. (m²)^-1 as compared to pond monoculture, with a yield of 2 959 kg.ha^-1 at a cost of US$ 2 926.ha^-1. For every dollar spent in production of tilapia, a return of US$ 0.40 and US$ 0.20 is expected from cage and pond culture, respectively. Feed cost accounts for most of the total cost in both culture systems. As expected, a substantial share (24%) of the total gross value of production is for capital in cage culture, while the same is true (27%) for land in pond culture.

Brackish-water/marine aquaculture.

Unlike other Asian countries, milkfish has been the primary brackish-water aquaculture species in the Philippines until recently. In 1999 total production of milkfish culture reached 146 000 tons (75.58% of total brackish-water aquaculture production). Seaweed is the most dominant product of mariculture. This is mainly produced in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), contributing almost half of the country's overall production. Seaweed also accounted for approximately 60% of the total aquaculture production in 2000. Recently however, mud crab and grouper culture have been commercially introduced in most of the brackish-water ponds.

The technology varies by species in the marine or seawater-based farming systems. Sea-farming is classified into shellfish, finfish and seaweed culture. Shellfish such as oysters and mussels are normally grown by stake or by hanging methods using bamboo poles and rope, which take up space and impede the free flow of water. Finfish (such as milkfish and grouper) on the other hand are mostly reared in brackish-water ponds, floating net cages and fixed pen enclosures using monoculture and polyculture systems. Most grouper culture usesan extensive system, and the remainder uses a semi-intensive system. Milkfish culture employs extensive, semi-intensive and intensive management methods.

Mussel farming using stakes is more profitable than the farming of milkfish and grouper in net-cages. The net per cropping benefits of mussel, milkfish and grouper farming are about US$2 309, US$820 and US$214, respectively. However, gross return from milkfish and grouper farming is much higher than mussel farming. This is because the operating cost of mussel farming is much less compared to other systems, especially for capital, seed and feed expenses. Feed and seed are the major cost components for milkfish and grouper culture, ranging from 26% to 49% and 18% to 36% of total costs, respectively.

Capture fisheries

Capture fisheries in the Philippines are classified into: a) marine (municipal and offshore), and b) freshwater or inland capture fisheries. The marine fishery area covers about 2 200 000 km² of which 266 000 km² (12%) are within municipal waters and 1 934 000 km² (88%) is considered oceanic or national waters. Inland fisheries occur in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs comprising 250 000 ha.

Municipal and offshore production was about 785 369 t and 893 232 t, respectively in 1995. Municipal fishing includes capture operations using boats of 3 GRT or less covering areas from 0 - 15 km from the shore. Commercial offshore fishing, on the other hand, utilizes boats of more than 3 GRT and operates beyond 15 km from the shoreline up to 200 miles EEZ.

The municipal sector utilizes the following fishing gear: gillnets, hook and line, fish corral, beach seine, baby trawl, ringnet, Danish seine, spear, longline, purse seine, fish pot, crab gillnet, troll line, jigger, push net, round haul seine, filter net, drive-in net, liftnet, fyke net, drift filter net, cast net and others. Harvests from gillnet and hook and line contribute 32.85% and 23.87% respectively, to total municipal fisheries production. The main species caught from this gear are goby, catfish, murrel, grouper, snapper, etc. The commercial gear used are bagnet, longline, trawl, purse seine, round haul seine, drive-in net, Danish seine and ringnets. Harvests from purse seine are consistently highest with a production of 459 229 t. The main species caught are sardines, mackerel, tuna, scad and moonfish. This is followed by ring net (145 676 t), Danish seine (93 325 t), bagnet (77 891 t) and trawl (66 089 t).

Two-boat troll line, baby bagnet and squid jig have the highest investment and operating expenses. The investment cost for these three types of gear are US$232, US$1 694, and US$1 558 and the total operating costs are US$3 322, US$1 176 and US$1 757, respectively. However in terms of return, tuna handline is more profitable than other gear with a net profit of US$1 639. This is followed by baby bagnet (US$1278), multiple handline (US$1 208) and 2-boat troll line (US$1 176).

 

6	Estimated production was 80 t during 1993; it substantially increased to 1 865 t in 1997.