The expansion of Philippine aquaculture is essential to addressing poverty and food insecurity in the midst of a seemingly irreversible decline in national capture fisheries. Concomitant with its rise, however, are compounding environmental problems caused by climate change, lackluster governance and irresponsible farming practices. It is equally important to ensure aquaculture sustainability so that fish demand from a rapidly growing population is continually met and that fish farmers’ socioeconomic well-being is secured. As such, programs have been developed that aim to enjoin the government and private sectors with fishing communities to realize this goal.

Contribution of the Fishery Sector to the Philippine Economy

The Philippines is a tropical, archipelagic country comprised of 7,107 islands located in Southeast Asia. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the east, the Celebes Sea and Bornean waters on the south and the South China Sea on the west and north (Bautista 2009), it has a total territorial water area of 2,200,00 km2 while the total land area covers only about 300,000 km2. Its 17,460 km coastline spans marine areas that include coral reefs, seagrass and algal beds. In the interior of landmasses are freshwater and brackishwater swamplands, fishponds, lakes, rivers and reservoirs (Yap 1999, BFAR 2011).

With its extensive aquatic resources, the country was the fifth top fish producer in the world in 2010. However, total production has decreased at a rate of 3.6 percent, from 5.16 million t in 2010 to 4.97 million t in 2011. Nonetheless, total export value was US$ 871 million while import value was US $217 million, leaving a positive trade balance of US$ 654 million. Overall, the fishery sector contributed 1.9 percent (US$ 4.23 billion) and 2.2 percent (US$ 3.02 billion) at current and constant prices respectively of the country’s GDP (US$ 224.79 billion at current prices and US$ 136.79 billion at constant prices) (BFAR 2010a, BFAR 2011).

Annual performance of Philippine fisheries is attributed to three subsectors: municipal (small-scale) fisheries, commercial fisheries and aquaculture. Municipal and commercial sectors are distinguished by fishing location and vessel capacity—the municipal sector involves capture operations in inland and coastal areas with or without the use of a vessel not exceeding 3 gross t, while commercial fisheries is done in offshore waters using vessels of at least 3 gross t. Aquaculture is defined as the cultivation and farming of aquatic plants and animals in inland, coastal and marine areas (FAO 2001).

Among the three subsectors, aquaculture made the greatest contribution to fish production in 2011, with 52.4 percent (2.61 million t), followed by the municipal sector with 26.8 percent (1.33 million t) and commercial sector with 20.8 percent (1.03 million t) (BFAR 2011).

Status of Philippine Aquaculture

Philippine aquaculture can be traced to the fourteenth century, starting with the use of traditional, low-density pond culture of milkfish (Lopez 2006). Only in the 1940s was aquaculture recognized as an important industry, with 20,000 t of production, and since then has grown rapidly (Yap 1999). Total aquaculture production has increased from 0.29 million t in 1980 to 2.54 million t in 2012 (CountrySTAT Philippines 2012), comprising 42.5 percent of total fisheries output in 2013. Its steady growth, together with increased commercial fishery production, allowed the fishery sector to recover from a contraction in growth the previous year (BAS 2014). It has had an average annual growth rate in production volume of 8.6 percent from 1997 to 2008, and the production value is now nearly triple the amount in 1996 (BAS 2014, CountrySTAT Philippines 2012).

Philippine aquaculture involves many species and farming systems. As of 2007, there are 16 reported aquaculture species, among which four are considered most important: seaweeds, milkfish Chanos chanos, Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon (BFAR 2011, Sumagsay-Chavoso 2007). In 2011, seaweed was the greatest contributor to production at 70.6 percent (1.84 million t); followed by milkfish, 14.3 percent (372,580 t); tilapia, 9.9 percent (257,385 t); shrimps and prawns, 1.9 percent (50,159 t); and others, 3.3 percent (87,162 t) (BFAR 2011).

Seaweeds. There are two groups of farmed seaweeds in the Philippines, those which are extracted for industrial chemicals, such as Eucheuma spp., and edible species, mainly Caulerpa spp. Research on new seaweed strains (Kappaphycus spp.) has been undertaken in 2008 to generate fast-growing, disease-resistant seaweeds for commercial farming (SEAFDEC/AQD 2008). The Philippines is the world’s largest producer of farmed Eucheuma (BFAR-PHILMINAQ 2007).

Milkfish. Locally known as bangus, milkfish is the country’s national fish, having a high level of consumer acceptance and the largest share of farmed foodfish production. In 2001-2005, the Philippines was consistently the top milkfish producer in the world, and has increased growth rate over the recent years (BFAR 2008). Meanwhile, milkfish processing is a growing industry in the country. Fish are deboned before they undergo marinating or smoking to make them more palatable to the current younger generation, who are often deterred by its bony features. “Boneless bangus,” as it is called, is a uniquely popular Philippine product (Yap et al. 2007).

Tilapia. Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) was first introduced to the Philippines from Thailand in 1950. Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) was first introduced in 1972 and has since gained wide acceptance among farmers and consumers (Yap 1999). It is the main tilapia species cultured in the Philippines and in 2013 the country maintained its rank as the fourth top tilapia producer, contributing 8 percent to global tilapia production (SunStar 2013).

Shrimp/prawns. In the early 1990s, the Philippines ranked as the third top shrimp producing country in the world, specifically based on the culture of the black tiger shrimp P. monodon, locally known as sugpo. However, high stocking densities in pursuit of high production have led to the spread of bacteria diseases. Although initially mitigated by antibiotics, the causative bacteria developed resistance, causing the collapse of shrimp farms (Yap 1999). Culture of black tiger shrimp then waned, clearing the way for the culture of Pacific white shrimp P. vannamei, the species of current interest. Despite opposition by local NGOs and producers fearful of another disease outbreak, Pacific white shrimp are preferred for ease of culture, better survival and lower protein requirement in feeds, together leading to cheaper shrimp in the market (Sulit et al. 2005).

Culture environments. Species are cultivated in fish pens, cages and ponds in marine, brackishwater, and freshwater environments. Open coastal water is the largest culture environment, mainly as a result of the seaweed industry. Mariculture began in the 1930s with oysters, followed by the culture of mussels 20 years later. However, it progressed only with the start of carrageenophyte seaweed farming in the 1970s (Yap 1999).

Brackishwater areas, such as mangrove swamps and estuarine areas, is the second largest culture environment. The two main brackishwater species cultured are milkfish and black tiger shrimp; others include mudcrabs Scylla serrata, grouper Epinephelus spp., seabass Lates calcarifer and other penaeid shrimps.

Freshwater aquaculture started with the introduction of Mozambique tilapia in 1950 and the subsequent spread of backyard tilapia culture throughout the country. Freshwater aquaculture came to prominence in the mid-1970s with the discovery that milkfish could be reared without feeding at commercial levels in Laguna de Bay fish pens. Thereafter, tilapia were successfully cultured in cages, initially in Laguna de Bay and then in other lakes, dams and reservoirs. Commonly cultured freshwater species aside from tilapia are bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis and common carp Cyprinus carpio, African catfish Clarias gariepinus, snakehead Channa striata, euryhaline milkfish and most recently the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Garcia and Sumalde 2013, BFAR-PHILMINAQ 2007, Lopez 2006).

Read the rest of this article in the December 2014 issue of World Aquaculture Magazine here