Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department
SEAFDEC/AQD Institutional Repository http://repository.seafdec.org.ph
Journals/Magazines Aqua Farm News
1988
What you need to know about sea bass and sea bass farming
Aquaculture Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department (1988). What you need to know about sea bass and sea bass farming. Aqua Farm News, 6(5), 8-9.
http://hdl.handle.net/10862/2698
Downloaded from http://repository.seafdec.org.ph, SEAFDEC/AQD's Institutional Repository
8
WHAT Y O U N EED TO KNOW ABOUT SEA BASS AND SEA BASS FARMING
Sea bass (Lates c a lc a r if e r ) lo c a lly ca lle d "apahap" is one of the eco n o m ica lly im portant cu ltured fish species in Southeast A sia. A d u lt sea bass spends most of its life in lakes, rive rs, estuaries, and lagoons.
D uring the spawning season, fish w ith developing gonads m igrate downstream and m ove to estuaries and adjacent coastal w aters for gonadal m aturation and subsequent spawning.
Sea bass spawns n a tu ra lly or when induced by horm onal treatm ent.
E a r lie r studies (1983-1985) on horm one-induced spawning used human ch o rio n ic gonadotropin (H CG ), puberogen, carp p itu ita ry , and other gonadotropic hormone preparations. L u te in iz in g horm one-releasing hormone analogue (LH R H a ) induces single or sequential spawnings. This is adm inistered e ith e r in saline injections, ch o le ste ro l p e lle t im plants or loaded into osm otic pumps. P e lle t im plantation proved to be more re lia b le , cheaper and less stressful to fish. Under am bient conditions (28-30 C , 30-35 ppt) in flo a tin g net cages, m ature sea bass re ce ivin g a single injection or im pla n ta tion of pelle te d L H R H a spawn 30-36 hours a fte r hormonal a d m in istratio n.
A t 27-30°C, sea bass eggs hatch in 13-18 hours. N ew ly hatched larvae are about 1.5-1.7 mm in to ta l length. Larva e sta rt to feed on ro tife rs at day 2, change th e ir feeding habit at day 10, and p re fe r A rte m ia nauplii at day 15. Sea bass larvae may be weaned to a r t ific ia l diet as early as day 10. S u rvival rates of up to 90% can be attained provided w ater m anagem ent is good and food supply is u n lim ited . But, the best tim e and schem e is gradual weaning to a r t ific ia l diets on the day of harvest (day 21).
In the P h ilipp ines, m onoculture of sea bass in ponds, pens, and cages has been trie d w ith fa irly good results. A t present, sea bass is fed trash fish although a food conversion ra tio (F C R ) of only 7:1 can be attained.
The in s u ffic ie n t supply and the high cost of trash fish is a major co n stra in t in sea bass m onoculture. Because of these constraints, S E A F D E C A Q D has re ce n tly addressed the need to develop an abundant, cheap, and econ om ical food source for sea bass cu ltu re . In p a rticu la r, basic studies on the n u tritio n a l requirem ents (e.g., fa t and protein requirem ents) of sea bass are presently in progress. The use of cheap and n u tritio u s substitutes (e.g., soy bean m eal, meat and bone m eal, shrim p head m eal, and leaf meals) for costly and im ported fish m e a l ingredients in co m m e rcia l fish d iets is also presently being evaluated.
An a lte rn a tiv e to trash fish as food for sea bass is the cu ltu re of forage fish such as tila p ia in p o lycu ltu re system . A sea b ass-tila p ia (1:15) p o lycu ltu re system appears to have some prom ise. Sea bass may also be grown together w ith m ilk fish and tila p ia . In such a system , 5000 sea bass juveniles are stocked in a one hectare pond together w ith 1500 m ilk fis h fin ge rlin gs and 4000 tila p ia adults. Sea bass juveniles a r e stocked 90 days a fte r tila p ia and m ilk fis h . A cost-and -re turn analysis of this p o ly c ulture system appears higher re la tive to a m onoculture system . A lso, it is econ om ica lly co m p e titive com pared to other food production system s.
9
Sea bass is sold frozen or may be sold liv e in the local m arket.
L iv e sea bass commands a much higher p rice of P 1 0 0 -P 1 5 0 per kilo . H ow ever, frozen sea bass sells for only P50-P70 per kilo.
Source : A Technology D ispatch of the S E A F D E C A quaculture D epartm ent, Tigbauan, Iloilo, P h ilipp ines, O ctober 1988.
A E N -V I-5 -3
T H E V A L U E O F S E A H O R S E
The sea horse is more valuable than you think. It is very much in demand as curios and souvenirs and as m edicine, too.
This sm all fish w ith a horse head shaped like that of a horse and bent at right angles to the body catches the intere st of visito rs in m arine aquarium s. It can be kept ind e fin ite ly because of its firm external skeleton and is not distorted when dried. It can be mounted on driftw ood blocks or a ffix e d to pedestals and used on a chessboard instead of the knight. The sea horse is also used for jewelry such as earrings and for m edicinal purposes when p ulverized or turned into powder.
There is a sea horse ranch in Marungas, Jolo, Sulu w ith an in itia l stock of 5,000 breeders for propagation. D ried sea horse is sold for P 2 ,200.00 per k ilo . It has market o utlets in. Borneo, Singapore, and Hongkong.
Sea horse ranching, any one?
Source : A G C O M (A g ric u ltu ra l C o m m u n ica tio n ) Services D epartm ent of A g ric u ltu re
Region IX, Zamboanga C ity
A F N -V I-5 -4
