Fish farming handbook.

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SEAFDEC/AQD Institutional Repository (SAIR)

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Title
Fish farming handbook.

Author(s)
SEAFDEC Institute of Aquaculture

Citation

Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center. (1980). Fish farming
handbook. Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines: SEAFDEC Aquaculture
Department.

Issue Date
1980

URL
http://hdl.handle.net/10862/1490

http://repository.seafdec.org.ph

Fish Farming

HANDBOOK

A handy reference for
farm broadcasters, information writers
extension workers, fishfarmers
teachers and students

SEAFDEC Institute at Aquaculture

Aquaculture Department, SEAFDEC
Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines, 5829
P.O. Box 256
Iloilo City, Philippines

Fish Farming
Handbook

1980
SEAFDEC INSTITUTE OF AQUACULTURE
Aquaculture Department, SEAFDEC
Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines P.O. Box 256 Iloilo City, Philippines

CONTENTS

FOREWORD
v

GENERAL INFORMATION
1

Pond site selection, design & construction
3
Pond management
13
Harvesting, processing & marketing
39
Pen & cage culture
52
Miscellaneous information
58

MILKFISH
66
Pond site selection, design & construction
68
Fry management
80
Pond management
86
Harvesting & utilization
102
Pen & cage culture
106
Miscellaneous information
110

PRAWN
114
The profitability of raising prawns
116
Pond site selection, design & construction
120
Fry management
132
Pond management
140
Feeding
152
Harvesting, processing & marketing
162
Hatchery & broodstock development
178
Freshwater farming
196

TILAPIA
200

Brackishwater farming
202
Freshwater farming
206
Miscellaneous information
218

MUSSELS & OYSTERS
220

CRABS, OTHER FISHES & AQUATIC PRODUCTS
258

INTEGRATED FARMING
270

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
292

GLOSSARY
296

NOTE: A detailed table of contents is provided at the beginning of
the major sections.

FOREWORD

This handbook is designed to be a source book for workers
engaged in bringing knowledge and technology to fishfarmers. It can
also serve as a handy reference for fishfarmers themselves.

The articles in this handbook represent 19 months, starting
from October 1978, of searching, compilation, editing and cross-
checking work by the staff of the Communications/Publications
unit of the Institute of Aquaculture. Classified under 7 headings -
general aquaculture information, milkfish, prawn, tilapia, molluscs,
crabs and other species, and integrated farming - the articles emanate
from various sources and contributions.
Private aquaculturists,
government
technologists,
researchers
and scientific workers,
scientists from other research centers and institutions, and the
research and technology
staff of the SEAFDEC Aquaculture
Department themselves have in various forms and manner furnished
the materials for the articles found in this handbook. The staff
took the liberty
of rewriting and reorganizing published or
unpublished information with the sole view of making these available
in practical and compact form.

The publication of this handbook is one of the initiatives from
SIA to develop the fishfarm industry in partnership with the
government, the research sector and the aquaculture industry itself.

The handbook will be updated and revised as new information
and new findings and experiences occur. We welcome suggestions
to improve and make this handbook more meaningful and useful.

JOSEPH C. MADAMBA
Director

SEAFDEC Institute of Aquaculture
May 23, 1980

v

GENERAL
INFORMATION

POND SITE SELECTION, DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
3
Make a thorough study before you build a
commercial fishpond
3
How to determine what water level is good for fishponds
5
What makes a good nursery pond or semillahan
6
Structures that protect banks and ponds
6
Use low-cost materials to build ponds
7
Use water supply pipe instead of sluice gate
8
Acid sulfate soils — a big problem of fishpond
owners
9
The basic differences between sugpo farming and
bangos farming
10

POND MANAGEMENT
13
How are modern fish farms managed?
13
Understanding the pond ecosystem better
14
Some reminders for the new year
18
Do's and don'ts in fishfarming
19
Grading of fry or fingerling before stocking
20
Take care of your pond dikes
21
Fishpond operators should replant mangrove areas
22
Have your pond soil analyzed once a year
23
Ways to control fishpond soil acidity
23
Fishpond soils need conditioning
25
Lime is important in pond management
26
Can guano be used as pond fertilizer?
26
Organic fertilizers: how they improve fishpond yields
27
The value of hog manure as fishpond fertilizer
28
Fertilize your fishponds with both organic and
inorganic fertilizers
29
Fertilize your fishponds with animal manures
30
Practical ways of destroying fishpond pests
31
Prevent predators from entering your pond
31

1

Use of organic pesticides urged by progressive
fishfarmer
32
How to prevent pollution due to fish wastes
34
How to control oxygen depletion
34
How to identify fish diseases
35
Signs and symptoms of vibriosis in fish and prawns
37

HARVESTING, PROCESSING & MARKETING
39
How to keep fish longer in ice
39
How to prevent fish spoilage
40
Chilled fish offers more advantages than totally
frozen fish
41
Making fish balls from trash fish
42
How Panay-Negros fishfarmers package and ship
milkfish and shrimps
42
The proper way to pack fish for shipment
44
Some guides in preparing dried fish products
46
Fish marketing in Iloilo, Bacolod and Zamboanga
needs some improvement
47
Fish marketing system in Central Luzon mostly
benefits middlemen
48

PEN AND CAGE CULTURE
52
Criteria for selecting fish pen site
52
What ails the fish pen industry?
53
Cage culture in Thailand
54
A floating house with fish cages
55
How to eliminate fouling of netpens
56
For better water movement and aeration position
your fish cages properly
57

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
58
A bright future for pond culture fishery
58
Conversion guides for fishpond raisers
59
Most Panay fishfarmers follow polyculture
61
Study reveals pond management practices of
Panay farmers
62
Instant fishpond in creek yields more than fishponds
in Capiz
63
Marine borers — how to protect boats and other marine
construction against them
64

2

Pond site selection,
design & construction

MAKE A THOROUGH STUDY BEFORE YOU
BUILD A COMMERCIAL FISHPOND

Pay close attention to the layout, design and construction
of your ponds. A well-built fishpond means lower costs and better
production, says Mr. Leonardo Denila of the Western Visayas
Federation of Fish Producers, Incorporated.

Artificially built ponds are subject to natural forces especially
waves and flood waters.
But with proper design, layout and con-
struction, the harmful effects of flood and waves can be prevented
and minimized, Denila said.

Here are the preliminary steps in constructing fishponds.

Observe and note down the tide levels, especially during the
months of June, July, November, and December when tides are
influenced by heavy rains. The highest and lowest tide levels will
affect the elevation of ponds.
Also, find out the levels of flood
waters from the people in the locality. This information is important
in determining the height of your main dike.

3

Familiarize yourself with the wet and dry seasons and the crop-
ping schedules in the locality as these will help you properly manage
the fishponds.
For repair of gates and dikes, for stocking and
harvesting, you will need extra labor.
Schedule them when you
can get enough local labor - usually before and after rice planting
and harvesting and after the milling season for sugar. Know the
local customs and traditions because these will greatly affect labor
costs.

Construction costs will also be affected by the kind of plants
that had been growing or are growing in your fishpond site and
by the type of soil. Sandy clay or sandy loam is best for dike con-
struction because it is hard and does not crack when dry. Don't use
soil formed from decayed bakawan roots because it easily burns
when dry.
Also avoid using a completely sandy soil because it
is the most expensive to transport.
Besides, lablab grows poorly
with sandy soil.

Meanwhile, your main source of water supply should be noted.
Your pond water may come from the sea, rivers or creeks but the
presence of a fresh water source is an advantage because it would
enable you to have control over the salinity of pond water. Control
of salinity is very important for the growth of fish and fish food.
See to it that the water is not polluted by wastes coming from such
establishments as sugar centrals, distilleries, sawmills, and other
factories.

For the layout, design and construction of fishponds, consult
with knowledgeable and experienced fish farmers and with the
technologists of the Bureau of Fisheries. They can give you useful
guidelines so that you won't have to spend so much in building and,
afterwards, in making repairs.

Fish farming is not entirely the application of knowledge on
how to make the fish survive and grow.
Much of the success in
the commercial growing of fish lies in the proper application of
engineering principles.

SOURCE:
"Layout, Design, Construction and Levelling of Fishponds", Leonardo Denila,
Readings on Aquaculture Practices. SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department,
May, 1977.

4
GENERAL INFORMATION

HOW TO DETERMINE WHAT WATER LEVEL
IS GOOD FOR FISHPONDS

Good water management depends on the water elevation of
the fishpond site. Water elevation can be determined by making
actual measurements of the height of the water in the site at diffe-
rent stages of the tide and comparing these measurements with the
expected heights from the predictions in the tide table. You can
obtain a copy of the tide table from the Bureau of Coast and Geode-
tic Survey, Baranca St., Manila.
For example, if the actual height
of the water in the site is four feet when the prediction
listed
in the tide table is four feet, then the elevation in said area is 0.
If the area has six feet of water when the prediction is four feet
then such an area has an elevation of two feet. On the other hand,
if the area has one foot deep of water when the expected tide level
is four feet, that area is three feet above 0 datum.

The suitability of an estuarine area for fishpond project based
on the water supply can be summarized as follows:

1. Sites with elevation from 0 to 3.5 feet make the ideal eleva-
tion for fishponds because they can be watered or drained even
under ordinary tidal conditions.
Those at elevation from 1 to
4.5 feet are also suitable for fishpond purposes.

2. Areas at elevation 4.5 to 7 feet can be suitable only if they
are excavated while areas between -2 feet to -1 foot are suitable
only if filled.

3. Areas above 7 feet are unsuitable because they are not
watered. Areas below -2 feet are also unsuitable because they are
always under water and it would be too expensive to fill them up
unless they get elevated by natural forces.

SOURCE: The Philippines Recommends for Bangos 1976.

5
POND SITE SELECTION, DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

WHAT MAKES A GOOD NURSERY POND
OR SEMILLAHAN

The nursery pond should be prepared at least one month
before stocking. This is especially true if fry is to be stocked, after
acclimation, direct to the nursery pond.

A good nursery pond should have the following features:

1. It must have a low and level bottom to permit water to flow
from the sea or river even at low tide.

2. Its bottom soil should have an organic matter content of at
least 16 percent; soil pH must be from 7 to 8; and there must be a
good layer of clay in the subsoil to retain water.

3. The pond should have two water gates for easy entry and exit
of water from the supply canal to the drainage canal.

4. The pond bottom should be inclined towards one water
gate for easier collection and capture of young fish.

5. The pond should have a peripheral canal of at least 15 centi-
meters deep for fast draining of water while the central portion is
being prepared.
This canal also serves to catch soil, dirt and other
matter falling off the dikes to prevent pollution of the feeding zone.

6. The nursery should have strong perimeter dikes to avoid
seepage due to holes caused by crabs or eels and to avoid overflows
during heavy rains and typhoons.

SOURCE: Modern Aquaculture for the Philippines by Ceferino de los Santos, Jr., 1978.

STRUCTURES THAT PROTECT
BANKS AND PONDS

Waves, water current and wind action can gradually erode
dikes and embankments you may not even notice the effect until
it is too late. To be sure, build protective structures such as breakers,
jetties and barriers.

6
GENERAL INFORMATION

SEAFDEC engineer Rodolfo Tolosa gives the following means
of protecting your pond from strong waves, water current and wind
action:

1. Breakwaters could be either rubble-mound, or wooden-type,
or a buffer zone of mangrove trees. A rubble-mound is made of
stones or boulders while a wooden-type one is formed by driving
two lines of mangrove piles and filling the space between these piles
with branches of trees. A mangrove buffer zone can be established
by planting mangrove seedlings in places that have to be protected.

2. Jetties arranged in a zigzag pattern prevent scouring at river
bends. Coconut trunks or bamboos may be used. The space bet-
ween the jetty and the river bank must be filled with twigs and
branches.
Jetties serve to cushion the impact of onrushing waters
on the shore especially at river bends.

3. Embankment protectives.
Internal waves eat away at
embankments unless you set up barriers.
Some of these barriers
may be made of bamboo wave breakers, worn out rubber tires,
and ripraps. A cheap and effective method is to grow creeping or
close-growing grasses on embankments.

4. Screened barriers.
Mouth of pond gates can be clogged
by debris. To prevent this, set up a screen barrier before the gates.
Bamboo or nylon screens installed at a distance before the mouth
of the main gate will collect floating debris.

SOURCE: "Prawn pond engineering," R.T. Tolosa. Technical Consultation on Available
Aquaculture Technology in the Philippines (proceedings), SEAFDEC Aquacul-
ture Department, Feb 1979.

USE LOW-COST MATERIALS
TO BUILD PONDS

Cheaper and locally available materials could be used in con-
structing ponds, especially nursery ponds.
Although laborious
to prepare, they will cost much lower and are just as durable as
the ready-to-use but costly materials,
according to Flor Apud of
the SEAFDEC Leganes brackishwater research station.

7
POND SITE SELECTION, DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION