Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
Whether in the Philippines or in other parts of the world, Chinese restaurants are not complete without a bubbling tankful of grouper.
“Many Asians believe that eating red fish kept alive just moments before cooking is not only more savory, but also the secret to a long and prosperous life,” wrote Gregg Yan in an article.
Most of the grouper comes from the Philippines, as the country is considered the center of the Coral Triangle, a region between the Pacific and Indian Oceans that harbors 75 percent of all known species of plants and animals that thrive among coral reefs.
There are 40 species of grouper, which Filipinos call lapu-lapu in honor of Cebu’s legendary chieftain who killed Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan. “The grouper is a seafood highly-valued for its exquisite taste and texture,” says Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero, a fishery expert and former executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development. “It is served in exclusive hotels and restaurants.”
Grouper is one of them most expensive fish around. In Hong Kong, lapu-lapu fetches up to P6,000 per piece. “Most Hong Kong people now choose to eat grouper because of the firm flesh. It’s tastier,” Ng Wai Lun, a restaurant owner in Hong Kong, told a news agency. “Farmed fish is less tasty and fresh.”
In the Philippines, lapu-lapu is widely cultured in its pristine waters. However, most the spawning areas are found in Palawan, the country’s last frontier. Palawan and its territorial waters host some of the most productive yet exploited fisheries on earth, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a global conservation group.
Palawan’s waters supply 50 to 55 percent of the country’s seafood, infusing the local economy with over P4 billion each year, according to some reports. The biggest bulk reportedly comes from lapu-lapu.
As lapu-lapu is in great demand abroad, it has a big potential in the export market. But there’s a hitch: the remaining wild stocks are rapidly disappearing from the waters. “Our wild stocks are fast becoming depleted because of overfishing as a result of their high price and big market abroad,” Dr. Guerrero deplores.
A recent survey conducted by the WWF showed that 20 of 161 species of grouper, a reef fish that makes up a large part of the Coral Triangle’s live fish trade, were threatened with extinction.
The 20 include the squaretail coral grouper and humpback grouper, which are a popular luxury live food in Asian seafood restaurants.
The word “grouper” is derived from the Portuguese word garoupa, which means “fish.” It is the common name for numerous members of marine fish in the sea bass family. They commonly grow to 50-100 pounds (they can reach up to 750 pounds), but most market fish are about 5 to 20 pounds.
Common varieties are the Red Grouper, Nassau Grouper, and Black Grouper; the Jewfish can reach up to 750 pounds. Many groupers can change color, depending on their surroundings. They are highly valued as a food fish, with firm, lean flesh that is suitable for almost any type of cooking. You may like it steamed, deep fried, grilled or prepared as sashimi.
Groupers may be found along coastal areas around the world, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. For more than a decade, groupers have been cultured in brackish water ponds and marine net cages in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
According to Dr. Guerrero, there are two common species grown in the country: the green grouper (Epinephelus coiodes) and the brown marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus). “Fry of the former are now produced all year round by a local commercial hatchery while that of the latter are still gathered from the wild,” he reports.
Grouper fry and fingerlings used for stocking ponds and cages are caught from the wild by fishermen and sold to the growers. The major source of grouper fry are in the provinces of Pangasinan, Cavite, Mindoro, Quezon, Masbate, Bulacan, Cagayan, South Cotabato, and Negros Occidental.
“The fry and fingerlings are collected by fisherfolk from tidal rivers, estuaries and coastal bays during the spawning season from November to June,” says Dr. Guerrero. “The fry are gathered in bamboo traps while fingerlings are caught by baited hook and line.”
Those who want to raise green grouper can buy fry anytime of the year from the Finfish Hatcheries, Inc., whose hatchery site is located at barangay Lun Masla in Malapatan, Sarangani Province. “There is no minimum order from us,” says Rene B. Bocaya, the national sales manager.
In raising lapu-lapu, site is the first thing that should be considered. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources says the suitable sites for cage culture of grouper are lagoons, coves and bays that are free of pollution and protected from strong winds and currents.
“A salinity range of 24 to 35 parts per thousand (ppt) for grow-out is desirable,” says Dr. Guerrero. “The water transparency should be higher than three meters and water depth should not be less than three meters during the lowest low tide.”
If you are using fry from the wild, they should measure 2-3 centimeters in body length. “Condition them first for a month in a plastic or concrete tanks with 20 to 30 ppt brackish water and fed with minced trash fish, small shrimp or Artemia three times a day at 6 in the morning, 12 noon, and 6 in the afternoon.”
Groupers are carnivorous and voracious fish. “The common method of feeding the grouper is by giving it live fish like tilapia,” says Dr. Guerrero. “This can be done by either rearing Mozambique tilapia in a pond and then harvesting this to feed to grouper stocked in another pond, or both grouper and the ‘feed fish’ are raised together in the same pond.”
In experiments conducted in Bicol University’s College of Fishery in Tabaco, Albay using the grouper-tilapia polyculture system, the ratio of one grouper to 20 tilapia was found effective. This means that for every hectare, 20,000 fingerlings of tilapia and 1,000 fingerlings of grouper are stocked. The young of tilapia fingerlings which mature in the pond become the natural feed of the grouper.
Groupers can also be raised in cages. Feeding is generally by means of trash fish given at frequencies ranging from twice a day to every two to three days. Feeding to satiation is commonly applied. It takes around four to five kilograms of trash fish to produce a kilogram of grouper.
“The culture period for grouper in ponds and cages takes four to six months, depending on the size of fingerlings stocked and management,” Dr. Guerrero says. “Marketable sizes for the fish range from 0.4 to 0.6 kilogram per fish.”
During harvesting time, the fish are not fed for 24 hours and kept in conditioning tanks for 1-2 hours with a water temperature of 18⁰C before being transported live. “Two to three fish are placed in oxygenated double-sheet plastic bags with 3-5 centimeters of water and packed in styrofoam boxes,” Dr. Guerrero says.
Although lapu-lapu fishery does not contribute much to the country’s fisheries production — small pelagics such as anchovy, sardine, and mackerel constitute the bulk of marine fisheries — the fishery expert believes there is still hope.
“To conserve (the wild stocks), fishing pressure should be regulated and marine reserves where they are protected should be maintained,” Dr. Guerrero suggested. “Breeding them in captivity is another way.”
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