aquafarm news • bighead carp culture
Center promotes land-based carp culture
By N J D a g o o n
T h e N ational Inland F isheries R esearch C en ter (N IF R C ) in R izal p ro v in ce w as d esignated as the national center for carp p roduction and research in the ‘70s.
Today, the C enter serves as the P hil
ippine germ p lasm center for m ajor carp species and other freshw ater fishes. It also c o n d u c ts s to c k a s s e s s m e n ts a n d lim nological studies o f m ajor lake and res
ervo ir system s in the country. It develo p s an d verifies aq uaculture techno lo gies for dissem inatio n; org anizes training courses for farm m a n ag ers an d technicians; and p r o v id e s c o n s u lt a n c y s e r v ic e s to aq uaculture project operation.
In a recent interview with M s. A delaida Palm a, NIFRC chief, w e learned of the latest developm ents in the Center, particularly on b igh ead carp culture.
T w o m a jo r fish e rie s d e v e lo p m e n t projects are being undertaken by N IFRC . T he first, seed p roduction of cyprinid sp e
cies, h as three com ponents: fingerling pro
d u c tio n , h u m a n re so u rc e d e v e lo p m e n t th r o u g h tr a in in g a n d e x te n s io n ; an d cyprinid research culture technologies. The second is a natio n al carp fisheries d e v e l
opm ent program , w hich h as tw o com p o
nents, n am ely: genetic im provem ent/up- grading o f carp broodstock and w arm w ater carp fisheries developm ent.
N IF R C and the S E A F D E C /A Q D ’ s B in angonan F reshw ater Station undertake co llab o rative activities, m ainly on genetic upgrading. A jo in t project on crossbreed ing pure W uxi ‘ strain ’ (not really a strain, C h ief P alm a clarified, but a pure, fresh batch from C hina) w ith SE A FD E C stock is underw ay. Im proving the gene pool is consid ered a very im portant research a s
pect as inbreeding am ongst existing stocks, o n ly re su lt to p h y s ic a l a b n o rm a litie s, grow th im pedim ents and d isease suscep
tibility. W hen su c c e ssfu l, the up graded stocks w ill be dispersed to satellite h atch eries.
O ne identified setback for carp is its rather relatively low acceptability in m ar
kets w ith a proliferation o f m arine fish products.
H ow ever, N IFRC discovered high ac
ceptability o f freshw ater fishes in upland and landlock ed areas. It now conducts c o operator-based dem onstration projects in up land Ifugao and Q uezo n. A lto geth er, carp culture has now spread to northern , central and southern L uzon and M indanao.
T here arc also existing cultures in N egros and C am otes Islands in the V isayas.
The C enter prom otes three types of c a rp g r o w - o u t c u ltu r e p r a c tic e s : polyculture, integrated farm ing, and carp openw ater stocking.
T he p olyculture m ethod of stocking tilapia and carps in com binations o f either 50/50 (tilapia/carp) or 60/30/10 (tilapia/
com m on carp/bighead carp) has already been verified by the Center. W ith an av er
age production of 4.2 tons per ha, a high m argin o f profit (about 2/3) is assured.
T here is m inim al expense, since the c u l
ture is fertilizer-based, w ith no supplem en
tal feeding.
C arp openw ater stocking has arrived.
“ A lo t of inland w aters have prob lem s,”
C hief P alm a rem arked. “ We are studying possibilities o f rehabilitating inland w aters using carp as a tool ... We try to study w hat natural food is not being effectively c o n sum ed in a body of w ater (then w e try) to m atch it w ith a carp species."
To cite a case, if the presence o f m uch phytoplankton in the w ater is detected, de
spite the presence of tilapia, silver carp is introduced. If the dom inant unconsum ed food is zooplankton and none of the fish species in the w ater body is an effective grazer, then the C enter stocks it w ith b ig h ead carp . U sin g the v a c a n t n ic h e a p proach, carp becom es a b iological cleaner in lakes and reservoirs saturated w ith cages and excess feed.
A current project she m entioned is the M a rik in a riv e r r e h a b ilita tio n p ro g ra m w here the C enter stock s com m on carp, a bottom feeder. The C en ter also sponsors m anaged operation stocking type of activi
ties in L a g u n a Lake, w here there are ac tive fish ers’ asso ciations. W ithin a sem i- enclosed area, the C enter stocks different species o f carp, then lets the fishers m an age the area for six m onths. After the p e riod, the fish are h arvested . Since the seed have been p ro v id e d for free, the fishers spend alm ost noth ing for their earnings.
N IFR C continu es to receive en co u r
aging feedback from the fishfarm ers about the practices it is prom oting.
A sked ab o u t the p o ssib le d isp la c e m ent o f n ativ e fresh w ater fish species by carp, C hief P alm a replied that that is no danger. B ighead carp are not kno w n to re
produce in inland w aters; this m akes it easy to retrieve the o rig in al carp stock, sh ould com petition w ith ind igenou s species b e e s
tablished. E ven in L ake L anao w here the com m on carp is consid ered endem ic (h av
ing been introduced in 1915), the fish’s sur
vival until m aturity is p laced only at around 5% , as its h arvest is faster than its rep ro
d uction rate. G rav id fem ales are h ig h ly sou ght after for their e g g s and com m and a high price if caught. A nd w h ile som e fe
m ales do succeed in producing young, they are not p articu larly good as a species in caring for them . C arp can never rise up to be a d om inant species, as it is even c o n sidered endangered. T he M indanao State U niversity, she m entio ned , even has p lan s of restocking L anao Lake.
The N IFR C head felt it w as fairly easy for com m on carp fry production to be d e v e lo p e d the w a y tila p ia sto c k s are, in backyards. B ut for b igh ead carp, she w as m ore in favor o f few, strategica lly located h atcheries capable of m a ss production, as
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SEAFDEC Asian Aquaculture VoI. XXI No. 5 October 1999 33
aquafarm news • bighead carp culture
from p r e v io u s p a g e
too m any m igh t satu rate the m arket for grow -out.
T h e B F A R C e n te r p ro d u c e s o n ly aro u n d 2 0,000 to 5 0,0 00 fingerlings per p ro d u ctio n sc h e d u le . It se lls th ese one- m onth-old hatchlings at a price m uch low er than the p riv a te secto r d oes (₱1 th erea
bouts), for 30 cents apiece. S p aw ning runs are d one at the C enter 5 to 6 tim es a year-.
E x istin g m a rk et c o n d itio n s su g g e st not m uch d em and for com m on carp in M a
nila. In L ucban, Q u ezo n an d the B ico l re
gion, how ever, carp p rices ran g e from P90 to P 12 0 a kg.
B ighead carp is u su ally sold disguised as a m arine fish (e.g., m ay a-m ay a) in big city m arkets. Its sectio n s are priced differ
en tly : the h e a d re g io n , ₱4 5-50 ; h ead to belly, ₱ 70 and the tail p ortion, ₱ 45.
T h e C e n te r d o e s a c k n o w le d g e the need to prom ote the accep tab ility of carp as a foodfish, in m a rk ets d o m in ated by m arine fish produce. T h is goal m ay be re
alized w ith N IF T C ’ s pro p o sal to integrate v alue-ad d ed carp-based p roduction d e v e l
o p m e n t in c o l la b o r a t i o n w ith th e p o sth arv e st tech n o lo gy d iv isio n o f BFAR.
C arp is very g o o d for surim i products, M s.
P alm a noted.
C arp is 12% o f the n atio nal freshw a
ter fish p roduction as rep orted by the B u reau of A gricultu ral S tatistics (B A S ), the N IF T C C hief noted. But this figure could be m islead in g, she said. “ T w enty per cent w o u ld be nearer the actual p ro d u ctio n .”
She added that the discrepancy m ust be b e
cause different areas h av e different local n a m e s fo r c a rp — b ig h e a d . Im e ld a and m a m a lig are carps. She h as ask ed B A S to review its record ed d a ta and reconcile its statistics w ith current production.
C a rp f is h e r ie s d e v e lo p m e n t th a t N IF T C lo ok s forw ard to in the future is la n d -b a se d : p o ly c u ltu re a n d in te g ra te d farm ing. T he first-ever N IF T C natio nally c o n d u c te d tra in in g o n c a rp -b a se d in te grated farm ing is slated this October. “T he integrated approach w o u ld be a very sound
developm ent,” she said, noting that it is the C en ter's next step after carp hatchery and c u ltu re te c h n o lo g y transfer; an d that it m eets the governm ent’ s goals of food suf
ficiency and sustainable aquaculture devel
opm ent.
W hen ask ed for her co n clu d in g re
m arks, C hief Palm a said: “C onsidering the low production o f carp and high p roduc
tion turn-out for culture, and if w e ’ re try
ing to develop an alternative species geared tow ards attaining food sufficiency at the sam e time preserving the environm ent, I think w e can alw ays look up to carp as an alternative species—C arpa p a ra sa M a sa, C arp for the M asses.” ###
SEAFDEC tech ... from page 29
W hat k in d of c a rp cu ltu re d e v e lo p m en ts w ould you like to se e in th e fu tu re?
Engr. Aralar: Increase in the survival rate o f larvae. It is very low right now. We consid er 60% already very high. H atching rate depends on w ater quality m anagem ent, it varies from about 60 to 80%.
Dr. Santiago: I’ d like to see people w o r k /f u r th e r d e v e lo p m e n ts o n th e b roo d stock s’ consistent reproductive per
form ance.
W hat d irectio n w ill th e fu ture ta k e?
Dr. Santiago: B ro o d stock d e v e lo p ment rather than hatchery operations.
H as carp hatchery tech n ology reached its f u lle st p o te n tia l?
Dr. Santiago: T here’ s still m uch room for grow th, esp ecially in landlock ed ar
eas— those areas w hich cannot be supplied b y m a r in e f is h , lik e s o m e a r e a s in M indanao.
Any p a rtin g w ords f o r o u r rea d ers?
Dr. Santiago: I w ould just like to re iterate that if y ou go into carp culture, you w ill be supporting the cou ntry’ s food se
curity program . I ’ d like to assure you that there is m oney in carp culture.
the practice / Laguna ... from page 27
he has done, is finding out w h at causes som e fish ailm ents— gas bubbles, deform i
ties— and elim inating these. The m ethods are his trade secrets.
H e does n o t plan to expand into value- added products in th e future yet. W hat he envisioned is the acquisition and setting up o f a 2 0 -h a fish pen for b roo d stock and grow -out operations. C urrently, he has a 50% sh are o f a g ro w -o u t p ond in Sta.
M aria, L aguna. He sells his grow -out pro
duce at ₱25 per kg. T hese are m a rk e te d at th e B in a n g o n a n a n d M a la b o n m arkets, w here h e said, “kahit ilang tonelada, ubos lahat” (even tons and tons o f fish w ill all be sold out).
A ralar plans to increase their fam ily’ s current stock of 1,000 broodstock. That is b y purchasing breeders w hose prices range from as low as P 300 to P800. B y doubling the capacity of his hatching jars to accom m odate 7 m illion fry per run, he believes he can fill in the current 30% deficit in fry supply.
L iv in g c o n d itio n s is h is b a ra n g a y w hich he estim ates has around 2,000-3000 fam ilies have im proved: and this prosper
ity he attributes to carp.
REFER EN C ES
Barrill C. 1993. W ater quality assessm ent and m anagem ent of Laguna de Bay: concepts, p ro b le m s and s tra te g ie s . In: P S ly (ed).
Laguna Lake Basin, Philippines: Problem s and O pportunities. UPLB: Laguna, P h ilip pines, p 115-142
C harlton M. 1993. Laguna Lake (P hilippines) w ater quality trend analysis study. In: P Sly (ed). Laguna Lake Basin, Philippines: P rob
lem s and O pportunities. UPLB: Laguna, Phil
ippines, p 168-187
N atio n al In la n d F is h e rie s R e se a rc h C e n te r (NIFRC). Undated. History and developm ent of carp culture in the Philippines
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34 SEAFDEC A sian Aquaculture Vol . XXI No. 5 October 1999
