Grouper farming is profitable if you know how
to raise them. It is a meticulous project to be able to raise them properly.
The fish are found in marine water living freely in their watery environment.
It is an expensive kind of fish in the market
few people can afford to buy. There were only limited catch a fisherman had in
his fishing days causing the price of the fish so high due to limited supply.
To remedy the shortage of supply, fishpond
owners resorted to grouper farming. They constructed fishpond based on the
desired size. The pond has higher dikes for the fish to be secured. The owner
maintained the water level of the pond to 4 feet. The bottom of the pond was
layered with sand not mud controlling the presence of organic matter that may
affect the growth of the fish. They raised fingerlings in the pond that
measured 3 to 6 inches. In a hectare, it can accommodate more or less 5,500
stocks. If the fingerlings are less than 3 inches in size, the pond can be
stock 11,000 fish in a single farming.
In raising grouper, it has stages to observe.
If the stocks are still small, they are raised in the nursery pond. Then when
they become bigger, they are stock in rearing pond. The bigger one is separated
in another pond away from the small size to avoid cannibalism.
They are feed with fish meal or commercial
live fingerlings of other fish raised by breeder for feeding purposes.
It was recommended that the feeding rate with
life fingerlings is 10 tin containers weighing 50 kilos enough to handle
grouper fingerlings in a hectare pond. They are feed every 2 weeks aside from
feeding with commercial fish meal or other food alternatives.
The feeding schedule is later in the
afternoon at dusk or early in the morning at dawn before the early morning
light where they are most active.
Most fishponds were placed near the sea. The
pond is little higher to the sea in low tide. The purpose is to change the
quality of water during high tide. With enough gate entrance, the water valve
controls the outbound water to the sea during low tide and during the inbound
water to the pond in high tide. Fouled water may affect the growth of the fish
or in higher mortality rate if there is no enough oxygen in the water. But if
proper care is carried out with better feeding techniques and clean water
atmosphere in the pond, it gives higher survival rate.
After rearing period of six months, the fish
can attain the average weight of 1 kilo.
The fishpond owners or caretakers are very
observant to the condition of the raised fingerlings. They checked it daily
that they are not diseased that will cause the reduction in their population.
Bacterial infection to the fish is common in pond especially if care and
maintenance is poor not in accordance to strict supervision and control.
If proper maintenance is done properly,
better feeding techniques, quality of water and disease prevention, fish can be
harvested to the size competitive in the wet market.
In harvesting the adult fish, the caretaker
of the pond has to catch them using net or by drawing the water out of the pond
retaining only a little to be able to harvest them. Selection process depends
on the size most profitable to sell. Those that are substandard in size will
remain in the pond waiting for the next batch of harvesting.
