Culture of the Native Hito (Clarias macrocephalus)

Introduction

The freshwater catfish, Clarias ssp. are widely distributed in Southeast, South Asia and Africa. They exist in a variety of habitats from brackishwater in estuaries to fully freshwater rivers and lakes. In the mid- 1990's, and introduced species, Clarias gariepinus, have become a very popular aquaculture species in the country because they can be spawned artificially, grow very fast, can tolerate farming conditions and are easy to culture.

In the Philippines, there are now three species of the genus Clarias, namely, the Native Hito (Clarias macrocephalus, the Thai catfish (Clarias batrachus) and the African Hito, (Clarias gariepinus). Among the three species, only C. macrocephalus is indigenous in the Philippines while the other two are introduced species. C. gariepinus originated from Africa while C. batrachus came from Thailand. The introduction of these species into the country was believed to have contributed to the diminishing population of the native catfish. To date, the native catfish can scarcely be found only in some remote areas of the Philippines namely Mindoro and Palawan where the two other species have not been introduced before.

Culture of Pompano in Bolinao, Pangasinan

There is a current craze for pompano culture in cape Bolinao, Pangasinan.  The shift in species was due to the erratic production of milkfish brought about by pollution and its high production cost and low market price of the harvested fish.

After years of searching for an alternate fish suitable for culture in the area, pompano seem to be the answer to the prayers of most Bolinao cage operators.  According to them, it is a very hardy.  In fact, when “fish kill” occurred sometime in 2004, milkfish pen and cage operators suffered heavy losses while pompano did not incur any mortality.  Another proof of its hardiness is its capability of being transported live for 6-7 hrs (from Bolinao to Manila) in oxygenated plastic bags.  Thus, commanding an even higher market price.

Intensive Culture of Tilapia in Tanks I. Grow-out Culture- Tank Design & Operations)

Many are interested in the culture of Tilapia in tanks because of the advantages it offers: first,  less space is needed, second,  better management control, third, less labor is needed, fourth, better quality of fish produced, and fifth, less risk of loss of stocks due to typhoons and flooding.

Its only disadvantage is- it is more expensive to construct and because no natural food can be produced, feeding will depend entirely on commercial feeds.  Encouraged by these reasons, many have actually ventured into this business but failed because of lack of information on the system requirements.  The design of the tank system together with the life support system is crucial to the operations and will determine the success or failure of this business.