By Henrylito D. Tacio
“Of all fish, malaga is just like a goat, just leave it there and it grows. So, even scientists from developed countries are now focused on malaga as an aquaculture species.” — Dr. Westly Rosario in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer
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It is called malaga in the norther part of Luzon, where it is very popular. But in Mindanao, it is known as kitong orkitang. Cebuanos call it danggit. In some areas, it is called as kikyero or samaral. And they come in several species.
Siganid or rabbitfish, as it is widely known, is becoming one of the favorite fish of Filipinos as it is very tasty (described by one scribe as “a slight, barely detectable sweetness”). You can have it broiled, sinigang (stew characterized by its sour and savory taste) or paksiw (cooked and simmered in vinegar).
According to R. Jamil Jonna, of the Animal Diversity Organization, the fish got its name rabbitfish from its peaceful temperament, rounded blunt snout, and rabbit-like appearance of the jaws. The fish “are important reef herbivores that browse individually or in schools over the reef or feed on plankton within the water column.”
Siganids are widely distributed in the tropical Indo-Pacific, from the east coast of Africa to Polynesia, southern Japan to northern Australia and in Eastern Mediterranean. One species, Siganus rivulatus, has been able to penetrate from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, which the fish has now become common.
Although harvested only from the wild in the open seas in the past, siganids can now be raised in brackishwater ponds, pens and cages as well as in sea pens and cages. Most of those cultured siganids come from Luzon and Mindanao, particularly Davao and Caraga regions.
There are 27 species of siganid but most marine scientists consider Siganus guttatus (spotted variety) and Siganus vermiculatus (striped variety) as the best and most popular species. In the wild, the two species occur mixed most of the times. Although S. guttatus is heavier, S. vermiculatus grows faster. But in terms of meat quality and taste, the former is supposed to be better and tastier.
“Siganid culture in the Philippines is not widely practiced, except in some brackishwater government farm areas and in a number of experimental farms,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported some years back.
The FAO paper carried this information: “Netcage culture is not yet a well-established or developed culture technique. A floating netcage farm consists of a number of interlocked cages suspended in a bamboo and/or wooden frame. The frame is either kept afloat by a bamboo raft or styrofoam floats, and held in place by heavy anchors. The netcages are of different sizes, with netting of different mesh sizes.
“Hapa cages are made of fine mesh net and are used to rear fry to the fingerling size. Nursery cages are used to culture fingerlings to 15-20 centimeters, while in the grow-out cages the fish attain the marketable size. The siganidsare fed with algae (lumot) usually once a day daily at 15% of the body weight.”
But in recent years, several studies have already been done on siganids. In Pangasinan, the College of Fisheries of the Pangasinan State University conducted a research on the effects of three feeding schemes on the growth and survival of the fish. In addition, it wanted to know the economic viability of siganid culture in floating net cages measuring 1 x 1 x 1.5 x 1.3 meters. The study was done in Manat River.
Three experimental treatments were used: Treatment 1 (combination of commercial feed and natural feed), Treatment 2 (commercial feed only) and Treatment 3 (natural food only). The stocking density of fish measuring 8.56 centimeters of its body size and a body weight of 11.97 grams was used. All in all, a total of 50 fish per cubic meter were raised for 104 days.
The result: Treatment 1 gave the highest mean weight (108.7 grams) and length (9.87 centimeters) while the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was 2.03. Treatment 2 came next: mean weight of 79.69 grams, length increment of 8.58 centimeters and BCR value of 1.64. Treatment 3 gave the lowest: men weight of 55.06 grams, length increment of 5.55 centimeters and BCR of 1.25.
“Survival was highest in treatment 1 (100%) followed by Treatment 3 (97.1%) and Treatment 2 (95.6%),” F.P. Doria, who conducted the study. In analyzing the variance, she found no significant differences among treatments in terms of total mean weight, length and survival.
In Dagupan City, the National Integrated Fisheries and Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) have crossbred the two most popular siganid species to come up with a more superior breed.
Gabriel Cardinoza, in a news report which appeared in Philippine Daily Inquirer, said the NIFTDC team “first mated a female striped malaga with a male spotted malaga. Then they reversed the combination, this time with a female spotted malaga and male striped malaga.”
The successful cross-breeding — first time two species were crossbred in captivity — was conceptualized because of the new policy of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to develop other kinds of fish to complement bangus (or milkfish), whose production has now become costlier due to the soaring prices of feeds.
Dr. Westley Rosario, NIFTDC chief, said siganid is better than milkfish when it comes to feeding. Siganids, he told the state-run Philippine News Agency, thrive only on aquatic plants that are still teeming in fish ponds and in brackish and marine waters.
“Aquaculture in the Philippines will continue to improve as needs for food and livelihood opportunities are enhanced by the growing population,” observes Ramon M. Macaraig, the vice president for research and development of the Alcantara Group of Companies. “The base of any aquaculture is the ability of the country to complete the production cycle in culture. Any seafood production system that relies on wild stocks cannot be sustainable.”
Like other cultured fish, production of siganids is highly seasonal due to dependence on the supply of fry. But it is no longer a problem these days as Finfish Hatcheries Inc. (FHI) can be the solution.
FHI is at the forefront of supplying fish fingerlings (bangus, lapu-lapu and seabass, to name a few) in the Philippines. In 1996, FHI started operations as part of the business integration program of the company’s agribusiness unit. Its hatchery is located in Lun Masla, Malapatan in Sarangani Province.
FHI, which produces in commercial consistent volume since March last year, supplies fingerlings of Siganus guttatus. “We produce 500 pieces per month,” says Rene Bocaya, FHI’s national sales manager. The suggested retail price is P4 per inch.
“Most of our growers stock them together with bangus in cages,” he says. “The siganids are the ones eating the natural foods attached in the netcages. With this, the frequency of changing nets is minimized.”
