Acute lethal toxicity of dried garlic (Allium sativum) powder on orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) juveniles under static exposure

The present study was carried out to assess the toxic effect and determine the lethal concentration of dried garlic (Allium sativum) powder on the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) juveniles. Laboratory static bioassays were conducted to determine the 96-h LC50 of different concentrations of garlic (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 mg L-1) on grouper juveniles (mean weight, 35.4±6.18 g and mean length, 13.2±0.51 cm). The 96-h LC50 was 74.78 mg L-1 with lower and upper confidence limits of 62.8 and 89.06 mg L-1, respectively. All fish exposed to 30 to 180 mg L-1 exhibited rapid movement, faster opercular activity and erratic swimming whereas at higher concentrations (90 mg L-1 to 180 mg L-1) fish showed additional behavioral changes such as loss of balance, lethargy, gulping for air and respiratory distress. Water quality parameters were within the recommended acceptable limits. This LC50 value can be used as a baseline reference to generate an effective concentration of garlic for future prophylaxis and treatment for parasitic, viral and bacterial infection in grouper.The authors are grateful to the Government of Japan Trust Fund GoJ-TF6 (8400-T-RD-FH0215) for supporting and funding this research. In addition, the authors extend their thanks to Mr. Peter Palma for his time in carefully reviewing our manuscript. Thanks are due to Mr. Elvis Biñas for his technical assistance

Environmental impact and growth performance of IMTA species in marine pen culture system

In this study, locally available marine species were tested, milkfish (Chanos chanos) as the fed species, seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) as inorganic-extractive species for the water column, and sandfish (Holothuria scabra) as organic-extractive species on the sediments. This study aims to verify and improve IMTA systems suitable for farm conditions in coastal areas in the Philippines, with emphasis on mitigating the environmental impacts of mariculture of milkfish

Nursery and grow-out culture of rabbitfish Siganus guttatus in brackishwater ponds

Rabbitfish Siganus guttatus is a promising aquaculture species due to its tasty meat and commands a higher price than some aquaculture species. Moreover, it has a low protein requirement, resulting in a low-cost feed input. In the 1970s, rabbitfish farming in fishponds began in the Philippines. In 1998 and 2014, SEAFDEC/AQD published manuals titled “Biology and Culture of Siganids” and “Seed Production of Rabbitfish Siganus guttatus,” respectively. However, there has been no recent publication on the nursery and grow-out culture. As a result, this manual will provide an update on the current techniques for nursery and grow-out culture operations of rabbitfish. Research studies, particularly on diets and culture techniques, have been conducted and verified before being disseminated through this publication. The biology of Siganus guttatus is covered, as well as the brackishwater culture management techniques such as site selection, pond preparation, nursery operation, grow-out culture technique, production data, common diseases and preventions, and economic analysis. The authors hope this manual will provide fish farmers, farm operators, feed millers, aquaculturists, technicians, and students with the basic knowledge of science-based aquaculture techniques for rabbitfish and how rabbitfish farming can become profitable

Whole-genome sequencing for identification of bacterial isolates affecting local penaeid shrimp farms: A national survey for the Philippines

The shrimp aquaculture industry is a major economic player in the food and livelihood sectors, both globally and in the Philippines. The development of industrialized shrimp farming methods has led to a rapid increase in cultured shrimp production since the 1980s, but the industry has also faced challenges from the introduction of opportunistic pathogens. These pose severe limitations in the success of shrimp culture in both hatcheries and grow-out ponds. We extracted genomic DNA from 423 bacterial isolates from shrimp disease outbreaks in local aquaculture farms throughout the Philippines and subjected them to Illumina paired-end whole-genome sequencing at 50–100-fold coverage. Reads were assembled using a de novo approach, and average nucleotide identity measurements were used to establish the identity of the isolates. Outbreak types encountered during the time of sampling include acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), luminescent vibriosis, white spot disease, and outbreaks of unknown etiology. In both outbreak and non-outbreak sites, members of the genus Vibrio, particularly Vibrio parahaemolyticus, were observed to be the most abundant. The whole-genome sequence data obtained will aid in the design and implementation of novel shrimp bacterial disease outbreak management and control programs.The authors acknowledge the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), the Negros Prawn Growers’ Cooperative, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and the many fish pond operators throughout the country and various research assistants employed by the program for help in the collection of bacterial isolates used in this study; and the UP Philippine Genome Center – DNA Sequencing Core Facility (PGC-DSCF) and Core Facility for Bioinformatics (PGC-CFB) for providing sequencing and bioinformatics analysis services, and Ms Krizelle Alcantara for her assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. This work was made possible through the funding support of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD-DOST) for the project “Shrimp Pathogenomics Towards a Competitive and Sustainable Shrimp Industry” under the program “Development of Diagnostic Tools Through Genomics and Establishment of the Philippine Aquatic Pathogen Database Resource for the Philippine Aquaculture Industry”. The authors are grateful for the help provided by Drs Adelle Calpe and Dalisay Fernandez of PCAARRD-DOST in the implementation of the program

Cage culture of tropical eels, Anguilla bicolor pacifica and A. marmorata juveniles: Comparison of growth, feed utilization, biochemical composition and blood chemistry

This study examined the performance and suitability of two tropical anguillid eels, Anguilla bicolor pacifica and A. marmorata, under cage culture conditions. Juvenile eels (1.73 ± 0.14 g body weight) of each species were stocked in triplicate hapa net cages (1 × 1 × 1.5 m; 30 eels/cage) suspended in outdoor tanks. Growth, feed utilization, biochemical composition and blood chemistry of the two species were compared after 210 days. Except for survival, mean final body weight (FBW), weight gain percentage (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and yield of A. bicolor pacifica (64.51 ± 13.07 g, 3514 ± 690%, 2.14 ± 0.12%/day, 1534 ± 380 g/m3) were significantly higher than that of A. marmorata (7.77 ± 2.90 g, 356 ± 125%, 0.89 ± 0.16%/day, 178 ± 89 g/m3). In comparison with A. bicolor pacifica, significantly lower feed intake (FI), feed efficiency (FE) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) observed in A. marmorata suggest the need to develop eel diets with feeding stimulants to improve feed acceptance. Biometric indices, body proximate and amino acid composition were not significantly different between the two species. However, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and total protein (TP) in A. bicolor pacifica were significantly higher than that in A. marmorata. These findings suggest that the differences in growth performance and feed utilization between the two anguillid eel species are related to feed palatability, and that A. bicolor pacifica appears to be a suitable species for cage culture because of its faster growth.The Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund provided funds for the conduct of this study (Study code: Br-02-Y2018B)

Gracilariopsis heteroclada as an extractive species in an aquaculture system

The study was conducted within the integrated finfish broodstock facility complex of SEAFDEC/AQD at Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines. The broodstock facility has a water recirculating system. The 500-ton capacity broodstock/spawning tanks were stocked with 25 grouper (Epinephelus coioides) and 90 milkfish (Chanos chanos) breeders. Water from the broodstock tanks passes through the sedimentation tank, then through the filter tank before it goes back to the broodstock tanks. The filter tank has an area of 20 m2, a water depth of 25 cm, and a water flow rate of 43 L sec-1 (≈3720 m3 day-1)

Evaluation of livelihood assets in community-based on-farm demonstration of IMTA in milkfish mariculture in Guimaras, Philippines

This study showed the need to develop the livelihood assets of rural communities to enable them to engage in aquaculture-based income generating activities. The SLA evaluation showed that the benefits in terms of its contribution to livelihood asset build-up is generally positive. While human, social and environmental capacities were improved, the financial and physical assets were dissipated and insufficient for many stakeholders with keen interest to participate in the communal project. Therefore, the recommendation is to organize more and bigger collaborative projects, such as this IMTA of milkfish, with emphasis on sustainable livelihood asset development to create significant economic impact to target beneficiaries

Evaluation of seafloor environmental characteristics of harvesting ground of a kelp Saccharina longissima using GIS in the Pacific coastal area of eastern Hokkaido, Japan

The characteristics of the seafloor environment of the harvesting grounds of the kelp, Saccharina longissima, were evaluated by spatial analysis using a geographic information system (GIS) in the Pacific coastal area of eastern Hokkaido. The kelp harvesting grounds were formed in water depths ranging from 1.2 m to 9.6 m, slopes ranging from 0° to 16.3°, bottom substrate (coarseness score) ranging from 1.82 to 3.00, bottom current velocities ranging from 0.7 cm/s to 116.4 cm/s, and a maximum slope of 37.6°. These values include the viable environmental conditions for the kelp. The kelp growth parameters estimated from kelp measurement data before the harvesting season were positively related to the bottom current velocity. This suggests that the bottom current velocity has a significant effect on kelp growth. The 58 harvesting grounds were classified into two categories based on their growth: those with high kelp growth and those with low kelp growth. Based on a decision tree model, the differences between the two harvesting ground categories were explained by the bottom current velocity, maximum slope, and bottom substrate. In addition, their specific environmental conditions were also quantified. The quantified environmental conditions were also used to create a potential map for the kelp growth in the harvesting grounds. This study provides an understanding of the environmental characteristics of the kelp harvesting grounds, as well as a procedure for mapping the kelp growth potential, thus contributing to the sustainable use of the kelp resources through kelp harvesting ground management and maintenance.This study was supported by the management expense grants of FRA, Japan and by the commissioned project for the survey on the fisheries infrastructure development of the Fisheries Agency “ Development of Methods for Selecting Sites Suitable for the Kelp Harvesting Grounds Based on the Elucidation of Marine Environmental Conditions Favorable to the Kelp Growth (2017–2019)”

Burning grey: The worldwide influence of a locally published grey literature

Rice is a major staple crop in the Philippines, which produces a large amount of rice each year. On the other hand, rice production generates biomass waste in the form of rice husks. In consideration of the rice husks’ potential as a biomass energy source and support the development of the rice husk gas stove technology in the Philippines, Engineer Alexis T. Belonio had published a grey literature (GL) entitled “Rice Husk Gas Stove Handbook.” Hence, to fully understand the impact of the technology, a citation analysis was conducted. The works that cited the GL were retrieved from Google Scholar using Harzing’s Publish or Perish software. The complete title of the GL was used as keywords for the search string. Results revealed that the GL was cited by 155 literatures written by 398 authors from 31 countries. Seventy-five (48.4%) of the 155 literatures were cited 797 times. The results showed the wide utilization and the impact of locally-published GL, thereby confirming GL’s value in research and development

The aquaculture supply chain in the time of covid-19 pandemic: Vulnerability, resilience, solutions and priorities at the global scale

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had severe, unpredictable and synchronous impacts on all levels of perishable food supply chains (PFSC), across multiple sectors and spatial scales. Aquaculture plays a vital and rapidly expanding role in food security, in some cases overtaking wild caught fisheries in the production of high-quality animal protein in this PFSC. We performed a rapid global assessment to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related emerging control measures on the aquaculture supply chain. Socio-economic effects of the pandemic were analysed by surveying the perceptions of stakeholders, who were asked to describe potential supply-side disruption, vulnerabilities and resilience patterns along the production pipeline with four main supply chain components: a) hatchery, b) production/processing, c) distribution/logistics and d) market. We also assessed different farming strategies, comparing land- vs. sea-based systems; extensive vs. intensive methods; and with and without integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, IMTA. In addition to evaluating levels and sources of economic distress, interviewees were asked to identify mitigation solutions adopted at local / internal (i.e., farm-site) scales, and to express their preference on national / external scale mitigation measures among a set of a priori options. Survey responses identified the potential causes of disruption, ripple effects, sources of food insecurity, and socio-economic conflicts. They also pointed to various levels of mitigation strategies. The collated evidence represents a first baseline useful to address future disaster-driven responses, to reinforce the resilience of the sector and to facilitate the design reconstruction plans and mitigation measures, such as financial aid strategies