OYSTER FARMING IHE PHILIPPINES

I. Introduction

The Philippines is an archipelago which has numerous sites suitable for oyster farming. The
cultivation of oysters in the country started in Bacoor Bay in Bacoor and Kawit towns in the
province of Cavite. Operations were generally small-farm and family business. The average size
of farm is 0.5 ha to 5 ha and the average production approximately 50 metric tons per hectare.
Due to the proximity of these two towns to Metro Manila markets and the availability of land
and water transportation facilities, marketing of oysters has not been a great problem. Moreover,
the present demand for oysters still exceeds supply.

II. Species Cultured

There are four species of oysters cultivated: Crassostrea iredalei, C. cucullata, C.

malabonensis and C. palmipes. Of these four species, C. iredalei is the most commercially
desirable because it grows at a faster rate to a larger size and has straight shell margins which
make them easier to open.

* Fisheries Officer, Bureau of Fisheries, Binakayan Research Laboratory, Cavite.

III. Farming Methods

Two methods of oyster cultivation are practised in Bacoor Bay: stake and hanging method.
These are both productive and inexpensive and are widely used by the farmers.

1. Stake method - the basal portions of mature bamboos are used. The length of bamboo
trunks depends upon the water depth at the farm site. They are arranged at 1.0 m interval.
The tips of the stakes usually extend above the low water mark by about one-half meter
(Plate 1).
2. Hanging method - the cultches installed in the oyster plots consists of oyster shells
strung in polyethylene ropes of a certain length depending upon the height of the water
column where they are to be installed.
Holes are punched at the centre of the oyster shells by means of a nail. The holes are just
big enough for the polyethylene rope to pass through. The oyster shells are spaced at
intervals of 12 cm by means of knots made on the line (Fig. 1, Plate 2).

With regard to the construction and design of a platform for the installation of the
hanging collectors different sizes of bamboos are used (Fig. 2) (42 pcs of bamboo trunks,
21 pcs of cross poles, 10 pcs of horizontal support poles and 1 kg of nails). The size of
each plot is usually 1 m × 20 m. Bamboo trunks are staked at the bottom at one meter
interval. A similar series of bamboo trunks is positioned parallel to the first. A meter-long
piece of bamboo is nailed at each to connect every pair of bamboo trunks. On top of these
cross pieces, three full length bamboos are nailed horizontally, one row along each side
and one in the centre running parallel to each other (Plate 3).
The collectors are fixed on the oyster plots by tying the free end of the polyethylene rope
around the top horizontal bamboo poles. The distance between collectors is about 25–30
cm.

Figure 1. Oyster cultches.

Plate 1. Oyster stake culture.

 Plate 2. Oyster cultches.

IV. Management Practices

Stakes and collectors are installed in the natural oyster spawning grounds during the months of
May to August when the environmental factors such as salinity and temperature are most
favorable. These months represent the peak period of oyster spawning in the Philippines.
Predators like crabs, sea urchins, oyster drills are picked up by hand. Sponges, annelids and
barnacles are scraped off with the aid of sharp knives. These fouling organisms tend to reduce
the yield by crowding or smothering newly settled spats as well as slowing down the movement
of water and transport of food. Likewise, these organisms add weight to the collectors which can
cause the stakes to fall.
The farms are guarded vigilantly against poachers especially when oysters have reached
marketable size. Culture period is 6–8 months.
Oysters are best gathered during the months of March, April and May. During this period they
are fat, full, rounded, bulging and creamy.
During harvesting divers swim underwater and pry off the clusters of oysters from the stake with
a mallet or any hard object and put them in bamboo baskets placed at the centre of an inflated
rubber interior. When the basket is filled, the divers swim back to the banca (boat) to unload the
oysters after washing and shaking them vigorously in sea water. Harvesting is much easier with
the hanging method (Plate 4). The hanging collectors are simply cut off and hauled in the banca.
The banca is brought ashore or to the caretaker's house. The attached oysters are removed from
the shell collectors with sharp instruments.
Oysters are sorted according to size in order to separate the marketable size from the undersized.
The young and immature oysters are returned to the bay either by broadcasting or spreading
them over the bottom or by putting them in bamboo trays suspended from bamboo framework.

Figure 2. Oyster hanging platform.

 Plate 3. Oyster platform.

Plate 4. Oyster raft culture.

V. Marketing

Oysters are sold shell-on or shucked. Shucking is done with a sharp knife. The meat is removed
from the shells and placed in a container filled with clean water. The meat is weighed and
measured by volume. Unshucked oysters are sold by the basket or by the kilogram.
The present supply of oysters hardly meets local demand. Many farm operators are hesitant to
enter into contracts with businessmen from other countries because they are afraid they may not
be able to meet the required quantity stipulated in the contract.
Although oysters can be bought in the local market the whole year round, demand is higher
during certain months, usually during summer when oysters are prepared for outings and other
gatherings. On the other hand, during stormy weather, the supply is relatively low due to
difficulty in harvesting.

VI. Problems

One major problem of oyster farming is the rapid siltation and pollution of the bays and
estuaries. The bamboo poles used in oyster farming accelerate the deterioration of the
environment by acting as barriers to the free flow of silt.
There are four species of oysters cultivated: Crassostrea iredalei, C. cucullata, C.
malabonensis and C. palmipes

CRASSOSTREA
IREDALEI(318)OYSTER
Superfamily: Ostreoidea( RT 318 )
Family: Ostreidae
Species: Crassostrea iredalei (Faustino,
1932) 
Common Name: Slipper Oysters 
Habitat: Intertidal to 20m
Origin: Malaysia 
 Average Size: 12cm (5in)

Shell valves hard, stony,

trigonal and pear-shape. Hinge
straight, devoid of teeth and
umbonal cavity well developed.
The margins of both the valves
have well developed angular folds
scultured with laminae. Small
tubercles present along the inner
margin of the right valve and there
are corresponding pits in the left
valve. Adductor scar kidney-
shaped, striated and white or grey
in colour.
PHILIPPINES

Current status

Various species of oysters are found in almost the entire coastal areas of the country and they are
particularly abundant in bays and estuaries that have some runoff from the land. Four species of
oysters are cultured in the Philippines, the slipper-shaped oyster Crassostrea iredalei, the
subtrigonal oyster C. malabonensis and the curly or palm rooted oysters C.
palmipes and Saccostrea cucullata. The species receiving particular attention in terms of culture
are C. iredalei, which are usually 6–9 cm long when marketed and the moderately sized C.
malabonensis, which are usually 4–5 cm long. The above species are particularly abundant in
Bacoor Bay and extend to the entire Manila Bay from Tarnate, Cavite to Mariveles, Bataan,
along the coast of Northern Luzon, Lingayen Gulf, Tayabas and Sorsogon; and to some extent in
Batangas Bay, Banate Bay in Iloilo, Binalbagan, Hinigaran and Himamaylan, Negros Occidental,
and in areas around Catbalogan, Western Samar, Northern Leyte and Palawan. Commercial
farming however tends to concentrate along the coast of various provinces largely in Bulacan,
Capiz, Cavite, Pangasinan, Sorsogon and Negros Occidental (Table 8 and Fig. 16). Oyster
production figures from 1980 to 1986 are shown in Figure 17. The highest output during this
period occurred in 1982 with a production of 19,017 MT, whereas the production dropped to
11,469 MT the following year (Fig. 17). From 1983 to 1986 there was an annual growth rate of
about 36 %. The total area of oyster farms in operation in 1986 was 467 hectares in contrast to
the 707 hectares the previous year (Malig and Edra, 1987). Such decline was attributed to the
rising production costs and slack demand due mainly to the poor sanitary quality of the product.

Culture practices

Four methods of oyster culture are practised in the Philippines; broadcast (sabong), stake (tulos),
lattice and hanging (bitin, sampayan, horizontal, and tray) methods.

Broadcast method. The broadcast method is the most simple and primitive method and it is
adopted in areas with firm enough bottoms to support the collectors. Empty oyster shells, stones,
logs and tin cans are scattered over the selected area where natural setting occurs. Oyster spats
are grown to the commercial size on the collectors.
The advantage of the method is the low investment required, whereas the major disadvantages
are that it can be used only in coastal areas with firm bottoms and shallow waters, high
mortalities due to silt and predation, and difficulty in harvesting.

Stake method. The stake method is usually used in areas with relatively shallow waters and soft
muddy bottoms. The main material used in this culture system is bamboo poles (5–9 cm in
diameter), however other rigid poles such as split coconut trunks and tree branches are often
used. The stakes are driven into the bottom in rows and spaced 0.5 m apart (Fig. 18). The tip of
the stake extends to the high water level, due to the fact that oysters can survive and grow in the
intertidal zone (Plate 4 and Plate 5).
The bamboo poles provide a clear surface to which the oyster larvae settle after their pelagic
phase. Culturists often increase the attachment surface by adding horizontal bamboo sections or
by clipping empty oyster shells or other hard materials to the stakes.
This culture method is commonly used in Binakayan in Cavite, Binloc in Dagupan, Binmaley in
Pangasinan and in Abucay in Bataan.
The main advantage of this method compared to the broadcast one is that spat mortality is greatly
reduced, and growth rate and production per unit area are increased. The disadvantages are that
predators such as crabs, starfish, and burrowing snails can easily crawl up the stake and reach the
oysters, the high cost of bamboo poles if not locally available and the relatively short life-span of
the poles (1–2 years).

Lattice method. In this method bamboo splits are used to construct a lattice which is held
together with galvanized wire or monofilament nylon twine. The splits are spaced about 15–30
cm apart and usually one lattice unit comprises 10–16 splits, which can be easily handled by one
operator. This structure can be positioned in a great variety of ways, either horizontally or
vertically. In the fence style the lattice is stuck on the bottom or supported by bamboo poles. It
can also be mounted on rocks or suspended in the water column when mounted on long bamboos
or empty drums.
The above method is popular due to a number of advantages: the lattice can be used alone or in
groups; collection and fattening of oysters occur efficiently, and harvesting is simple.

Hanging method. Another effective and practical practice is the hanging method. Empty oyster
shells or coconut shells are used as collectors. These are strung together on a synthetic rope and
held 10 cm apart by spacers, such as bamboo tubes or knots made on the twine. Often collector
shells are not spaced during the spatting season but are restrung with spacers during the grow-out
phase. Usually each collector measures from 1–2 m depending upon the depth of the water.
Variations of the hanging method are being used in the Philippines. In the bitin or inhitin
variation the collectors are fastened on a bamboo platform or fence with bamboo posts attached
horizontally near the high-tide level (Fig. 19). The collectors are spaced at regular intervals of
25–30 cm. In the sampayan or long-line variation four or more parallel lines, approximately 20
m long and 20 cm apart, are strung between two bamboo poles. The cultches are fixed at regular
intervals on the above lines. In the tray method, bamboo trays are used to hold the collectors.
Rafts made of 5–6 bamboo poles are also employed. The rafts are moored to the four corner
posts with enough slack to allow the raft to float at different water levels. The hanging collectors
are fastened 30–60 cm apart. During the harvesting process, the collectors are merely untied
from the bamboo poles and hauled to a raft or small boat.
The advantages of the hanging method are many, such as the high productivity per unit area and
no mortality from silt and crawling predators. Disadvantages include the cost of materials (rope,
bamboo, etc.), and the requirement of floats, anchors and anchor lines if the raft system is used.

Problems and constraints

Poor sanitary quality and limited demand are probably the major reasons for the failure of oyster
farming to expand rapidly. Due to the former constraint the Philippine oyster export market is
practically non existent.
Other problems in this culture system range from fouling organisms (eg. ascidians and algae) to
siltation. However, these constraints can be avoided by correct management and by the adoption
of the suitable culture technique for a given area.

Future plans

The shellfish industry in the Philippines is facing the problems of direct displacement of farming
areas by housing and industrial estates and of environmental deterioration. There is a strong
concern for the need to develop adequate sanitation standards and methods. Considerable work
on bivalve depuration has been recently carried out by the Department of Fish Processing
Technology of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, in cooperation with the German
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) (Barile, Pers. comm., 1987). A
simple purification unit has been successfully tested, however, the installation of such a system
by single farmers would not be economically feasible due to the present low price of oysters.

Table 8. Distribution and main culture areas of commercially important oyster species in the
Philippines.

SPECIES REGION LOCALITY NOTES

Natural oyster beds and

Northern
Lingayen Gulf, Pangasinon fisheries. Commercial scale
Luzon
culture in Pangasinon.

Natural oyster beds and

Central
Bulacan fisheries. Commercial scale
Luzon
culture.

Crassostrea Bacoor Bay (Cavite), Manila Bay,

iredalei Natural oyster beds and
Southern Tarnate, Mariveles (Bataan),
Crassostrea Luzon fisheries. Commercial scale
Tayabas Bay (Quezon), Batangas
malabonensis culture in Cavite.
Bay, Palawan
Crassostrea
palmipes Natural oyster beds and
Saccostrea Bicol Sorsogon Bay (Sorsogon) fisheries. Commercial scale
cucullata culture.

Natural oyster beds and

Banate Bay (Iloilo), Binalbagan,
Western fisheries. Commercial scale
Hinigaran, Himamaylan (Negros
Visayas culture in Negros Occidental
Occidental) and Capiz
and Capiz.

Eastern Catbalogan (Western Samar), Natural oyster beds and

Visayas Northern Leyte fisheries.
Figure 16: Major oyster farming areas in the Philippines.
Figure 17: Oyster production data in the Philippines from 1980 to 1986. (Source: Malig and
Edra, 1987).
Figure 18: Oyster stake culture system as practised in the Philippines.

Figure 19: Oyster hanging (bitin) culture system as practised in the Philippines.
Plate 6: Oyster culture by the stake method in Cavite Bay, Philippines.

Plate 7: Oyster stake culture during low tide, Cavite Bay, Philippines. Small guard-house built on
stilts is visible on the background.