Miagao fishers learn catfish breeding, nursery and management

The Institute of Aquaculture of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS-IA) conducted a “Training Course on Catfish Breeding, Nursery, and Management” to fisher folks from Miagao, Iloilo.

Held at the IA Multi-Species Hatchery of CFOS in UPV Miagao campus from April 18 to 21, 2022, the four-day training was participated in by seven fisher folks. They were from barangays Caitib, Cawayanan, Tigbagacay, Igkabitoon, and Palaca. One participant was a mechanical plant operator from the CFOS-IA.

The participants were identified by the Municipal Agriculture Office of Miagao. Some have knowledge of catfish and tilapia farming. One of their concerns was the seed supply, such as fingerlings with very low survival, hence, the conduct of this training.

The activity was also aimed to encourage the local community to produce fish in their locality to maximize their water resources in fish culture.

The resource speakers were Prof. Rex Ferdinand M. Traifalgar and Mr. Allan A. Failaman, director and university research associate of IA, respectively.

The participants learned how to select broodstock for breeding and how to induce spawning using hormones for catfish broodstock. They were also given background information on catfish nutrition and feeding.

Having attended such training for the first time, the participants were amazed to know that eggs were released 24 hours after injecting the spawning hormones into the catfish. The eggs were then collected for incubation. They also had hands-on experience feeding the larvae.

Traifalgar and Failaman were hoping that the participants would apply what they had learned from this training to help improve their knowledge and skills on catfish culture.

Catfish larvae produced during the training will be distributed to the participants for stocking in their ponds.

CFOS-IA will be conducting a follow up with the participants after a month to assess the results of the knowledge that they have learned on catfish culture in their backyards. (Marie June C. Esprela and Lenilyn B. Gallos, CFOS)