FJB

FREDERICK JOHN C. BERNARDO

FACULTY MEMBER, COLLEGE OF FISHERIES

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

✓ Aquaculture – began 2500 B.C. in China with the culture of

carp called “lee” under the term of Emperor Lee
✓ Fan Li – wrote the first treatise in fish culture in 500 B.C
✓ 15th century – Brackishwater aquaculture began in Indonesia
with the culture of milkfish in embanked coastal areas called
tambak.
✓ Oyster farming - Oldest form of coastal aquaculture 2000 years
ago in Japan.
✓ Seaweed culture in Japan was started in 1952.
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

What is Aquaculture?
✓ The farming of aquatic organisms in
inland and coastal areas, involving
intervention in the rearing process to
enhance production and the individual
or corporate ownership of the stock
being cultivated (FAO)

✓ Fishery operations involving all forms of

raising and culturing fish and other
fishery species in fresh, brackish, and
marine water areas (RA 8550; RA 10654)
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

✓ In 2018, the Philippines ranked 8th among the top fish producing countries in
the world with its total production of 4.35 million metric tons (MT) of fish,
crustaceans, mollusks, and aquatic plants (including seaweed).

✓ In terms of aquaculture production, the country ranked 11th in the world with
826.01 thousand MT or 1.01% share of the total global aquaculture production of
82.10 million MT.
❖ The total value of the country’s aquaculture production including fish,
crustaceans, and mollusks is USD 1.89 billion (FAO, 2020).

✓ The Philippines is also the world’s 4th largest producer of aquatic plants
(including seaweed) having a total of 1.48 million MT or 4.56% of the total world
production of 32.39 million MT (FAO, 2020).
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

Aquatic Environment:
✓ Freshwater Aquaculture - This involves the culture of
organisms that live mainly in inland waters with 0.1 parts per
thousand (ppt) or less salt content.
✓ Brackishwater Aquaculture - This involves the culture of
organisms that live in water with a salt content between
0.1ppt and full strength seawater.
✓ Mariculture - This involves the culture of organisms that live
in coastal lagoons or in the open sea.
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

End-product:
✓ Seed Production- The main objective of this type of culture is to
produce small fishes or other organisms, usually called “seed,”
which are stocked into ponds or other culture devices to be grown
into adult organisms for market.
✓ Grow-out Production- The main objective of this type of culture is
to grow seed stock until the commercial size or weight is achieved.
✓ Broodstock Production - The main objective of this type of culture
is to grow, breed and improve cultured species genetically, so as to
improve aquaculture productivity.
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

Seed Production Grow-out Production Broodstock Production

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Level of Intensity:
✓ Extensive Aquaculture
✓ Semi-Intensive Aquaculture
✓ Intensive Aquaculture

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Aquaculture can be divided into extensive, semi-intensive or

intensive, depending on the following:
✓ Stocking and fertilization rates
✓ Supplementary feed quality and rates
✓ Level of technology employed
✓ Level of investment and resultant yields

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Extensive Culture:
✓ This is the simplest method of culture, and is characterized
by a low stocking rate, use of fertilizer, little or no use of
supplementary feed and consequently, a relatively low level
of technology.
✓ As a result, the level of investment is low, and
consequently, yields are low.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Semi-intensive Culture:
✓ This method of culture is more complicated than the
extensive method of culture.
✓ The stocking rate used is higher, both feed and fertilizer may
be used, and consequently, the level of technology is higher,
compared to extensive culture.
✓ The level of investment required is higher than the
extensive method, and as a result, yields are higher.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Intensive Culture:
✓ This method of culture is the most complicated way of growing
fish.
✓ The stocking rate used is usually very high, and complete feeds are
used, instead of a combination of feed and fertilizer.
✓ The level of technology used is high, with automated feeding,
aeration and water purification being employed.
✓ This requires a high level of investment, but yields are much
higher than the semi-intensive culture method.
✓ However, this culture system has a high level of risk associated
with it.
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

Systems/Structures Utilized:
✓ Ponds
✓ Cages
✓ Pens
✓ Tanks
✓ Raceways

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Fish Ponds Fish Pens

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Marine Cages Cages in Lakes

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Fish Tanks Raceways

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Pond Culture:
✓ A pond is an earthen, or sometimes concrete, impoundment
that holds water. Pond culture is perhaps the simplest way of
practicing aquaculture.
✓ Most of the aquaculture production in the world is carried
out in ponds.
✓ Earthen ponds are the most widely used structures, mainly
due to their relatively low cost.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Pond Culture:
✓ The advantages include low technology requirements, ease of
stocking and harvesting, and less risk from climatic
conditions.
✓ Pond culture also allows cultured species to utilize natural
sources of food.
✓ A major disadvantage is water quality deterioration.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Cage Culture:
✓ Cage culture is the practice of rearing fish in cages.
✓ It can be applied in existing bodies of water that cannot be
drained or seined and would otherwise not be suitable for
aquaculture.
✓ These include lakes, large reservoirs, farm ponds, rivers,
cooling water discharge canals, estuaries and coastal
embankments.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Cage Culture:
✓ Cages have a rigid framework, and a bag suspended below
the water surface, in which the culture species are retained.
✓ The upper surface is provided with flotation devices, which
can be manipulated to raise or lower the cage in the water.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Cage Culture:
✓ Advantages include:
➢ Flexibility of management
➢ Ease and low cost of harvesting
➢ Close observation of fish feeding response and health
➢ Ease and economical treatment of parasites and diseases
➢ Relatively low capital investment compared to ponds and
raceways

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Cage Culture:
✓ Disadvantages include:
➢ Risk of loss from poaching or damage to cages from
predators or storms
➢ Less tolerance of fish to poor water quality
➢ Dependence on nutritionally-complete diets
➢ Greater risk of disease outbreaks

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Pen Culture:
✓ Pens are similar to cages, except that the species is allowed
to access the bottom of the water body.
✓ Pens are generally built in large open waters such as lakes,
reservoirs and rivers.
✓ However, waters used for pen culture are relatively shallow
when compared with cage culture, and usually possess a
medium to high level of dissolved nutrients.
✓ Fish therefore have access to natural food.
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

Pen Culture:
✓ Advantages include:
➢ Flexibility of management
➢ Relatively low capital investment compared to ponds and
raceways
➢ Low management costs
➢ Utilization of primary productivity

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Pen Culture:
✓ Disadvantages include:
➢ Difficulty in observing fish feeding response, behavior
and health
➢ Difficulty in the treatment of parasites and diseases
➢ Increased chance of fish escape
➢ Difficulty in fish harvesting and recovery

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Raceway Culture:
✓ A raceway is a long, narrow rectangular trench in which water
is flushed through continuously.
✓ If the land is sloping, a series of raceways can be constructed,
linked to each other end to end, one unit flowing into the
other, and separated by filters.
✓ Oxygen is added to the water by the splashing action as
water exits one cell and drops into the other.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Raceway Culture:
✓ In fish culture, traditional raceways are enclosed channel
systems with relatively high rates of moving or flowing water.
✓ This high rate of water movement gives raceway systems
distinct advantages over the other culture systems.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Raceway Culture:
✓ Advantages include:
➢ Higher stocking densities
➢ Improved water quality
➢ Reduced manpower
➢ Ease of feeding, grading and harvesting
➢ Precise disease treatments
➢ Collection of fish wastes

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Raceway Culture:
✓ Disadvantages include:
➢ Reliance on electricity or fuel for water flow
➢ Risk of fish mortality due to disease or water quality
problems
➢ High level of technology required

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Recirculating System Culture:

✓ In a recirculating system, the same water is reused, after
appropriate physical, biological or chemical purification.

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Recirculating System Culture:

✓ Advantages include:
➢ Does not require large quantities of land and water.
➢ A high degree of environmental control
➢ Can be carried out close to market areas

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture

 FJB

Recirculating System Culture:

✓ Disadvantages include:
➢ Needs a lot of complicated machinery, which can be
difficult to maintain
➢ Biologically complex
➢ Increased risk of poor water quality
➢ Greater risk of stress and diseases
➢ Common incidence of off-flavor are common
➢ High levels of technical expertise required
➢ High cost
Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture
 FJB

FREDERICK JOHN C. BERNARDO

FACULTY MEMBER, COLLEGE OF FISHERIES

Principles & Concepts of Aquaculture