Crablets: key to increase in crab output
At the just-concluded national mud crab congress in Iloilo City, it was very clear that to increase production of crabs for export and for the local market, there should be year-round availability of crablets for grow out operations.
As of now, crab growers virtually depend on crablets gathered from the wild. The problem is that the availability of crablets from the wild is seasonal. Another disadvantage is that crablets being sold are often times a mixture of the desired king crab (Scylla serrata) and other extraneous species that are hard to identify while they are very small.
To solve the problem of seasonal availability of crablets for growing, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD) spearheaded research on various aspects of mud crab production some 20 years ago with funds provided by CGIAR from Australia followed by funding from Europe, SEAFDEC-AQD itself, then Japan and lastly, starting 2012, DOSTPCAARRD.
So far, PCAARRD has provided R82 million for further research and technology dissemination. So far there have been breakthroughs in producing crablets by developing various techniques in broodstock management, hatchery and nursery techniques, nutrition, water management and the like. The current thrust is to disseminate the technologies to the stakeholders, particularly the crab farmers who do the job of producing the crabs for the table.
The major need, of course, is to encourage private entrepreneurs to invest in hatcheries, especially in areas where crabs are cultured that include many places in the Visayas (Panay island, Samar, Bohol, etc.), Luzon like Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales, Pangasinan, Quezon, Bicol provinces and Cagayan.
Such private hatcheries can be profitable to operate since there is a big market throughout the year. We gathered that there are now several places where hatcheries have been put up.
Among the private collaborators are the father-and-son tandem of Mario Santos Jr and his son Francisco. They started to be cooperators in 2013 after Francisco underwent training at SEAFDEC. The good thing about the Santoses is that they already had experience in operating a bangus hatchery. They used a portion of the bangus hatchery for their mud crab hatchery.
Francisco confessed that it looks easy to run a hatchery when you read about it. But it is very different when you do the real thing. In their case, for instance, they did not have the broodstock to start with. So they imported it from Panay. The trouble was that because of the long distance travel, 50% of the crabs died, 14% did not lay eggs, some layed eggs but did not hatch. Only 19% layed eggs that hatched. Any way, they were able to produce 18,682 crablets in the first year.
The poor results were due to human errors, according to Francisco. They had only a makeshift hatchery. By the second year, with the help of Dr. Emilia Quinitio of SEAFDEC-AQD, they put up a real mud crab hatchery. The first run was wonderful. Then the disastrous Typhoon Glenda arrived and their beautiful hatchery was blown down. It was only three months later that they were able to resume normal operation.
The year 2015 is a breakthrough year. They now have the experience and know what to do. They have so far produced 60,000 crablets this year for their own growout operations. They have observed that the El Niño has also affected the crabs. Many of the available crabs are not big enough to lay eggs.
Anyway, with their mistakes and successes, the Santoses, we are sure will go a long way in providing the crablets the growers will require.
*** *** *** AANI AGRI-BAZAAR - Make sure to attend the AANI Agri-Bazaar cum Agri-Kapihan at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City starting tomorrow, November 20-22, 2015. See you there.