Biology and

Culture Process of
Milkfish
milkfish (Chano
s chanos)
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gonorynchiformes
Family: Chanidae
Genus: Chanos Lacépède, 1803
Species:. C. chanos
 Historical Background
Milkfish farming in Indonesia, Taiwan Province of China and the
Philippines started about 4-6 centuries ago. Culture methods in a
variety of enclosures are constantly being improved upon. Since the
1970s, large investments have been made in the Philippines (as well
as in Taiwan Province of China, Indonesia and Hawaii) in terms of
infrastructure, research, credit and training in support to the
milkfish industry.
For example, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
(SEAFDEC) Aquaculture Department (AQD) was established in Iloilo,
Philippines in 1973 with a special remit to find solutions for milkfish
aquaculture problems
Milkfish farming was previously a traditional industry,
with little emphasis on producing sexually mature,
reproductively active fish in captivity. The traditional
milkfish industry depended totally on an annual
restocking of farm ponds with fingerlings reared from
wild-caught fry. As a result, the industry suffered from
regional, seasonal and annual variations in fry
availability. These variations are generally unpredictable,
and may be quite large over short periods of time.
 Habitat and biology

Milkfish (Chanos chanos) is the only species in the Family

Chanidae. Its distribution is restricted to either low latitude
tropics or the subtropical northern hemisphere along
continental shelves and around islands, where temperatures
are greater than 20 °C (Red Sea and South Africa to Hawaii
and the Marquesas, north to Japan and south to Victoria,
Australia; and in the Eastern Pacific from San Pedro, California
to the Galapagos).
● Adults occur in small to large schools near the coasts or around
islands. They are well developed, migratory, large (up to 1.5 m and
20 kg), and mature sexually in 5 years. Milkfish only spawn in fully
saline waters.
● Adults occur in small to large schools near the coasts or around
islands. They are well developed, migratory, large (up to 1.5 m and
20 kg), and mature sexually in 5 years. Milkfish only spawn in fully
saline water.
● Milkfish is a heterosexual fish; hermaphrodism has not been
reported. In natural spawning stocks the sex ratio is almost equal,
with a slightly higher amount of females.
● Milkfish eggs (1.1-1.2 mm in diameter) and larvae (3.5 mm at
hatching) are pelagic and stay in the plankton for up to 2-3 weeks.
● The larvae eat zooplankton and can thrive and grow in water
as warm as 32 °C. They then migrate onshore and where
they can be caught by fine-mesh nets operated along sandy
beaches and mangrove areas; these 'fry' are 10-17 mm long
and are used as seedstock in grow-out ponds, pens and
cages.
● Milkfish can reach a maximum size of 180 cm SL
(male/unsexed) and 124 cm SL (female). The maximum
recorded weight and age is 14.0 kg and 15 years
respectively. Resilience is low, with a minimum population
doubling time of 4.5 - 14 years..
 Production System
(Seed Supply)
To develop broodstock under captive conditions, large juvenile
milkfish may be stocked, fed and maintained in floating sea
cages in protected coves or in large, deep, fully saline ponds
(as practiced in the Philippines), or in large deep concrete
tanks on land (as practiced in Indonesia and Taiwan Province of
China), until they reach sexual maturity with an average body
weight of at least 1.5 kg. Land-based broodstock facilities are
entirely dependent on fresh pumped seawater supplies and are
often integrated with a hatchery.
● Broodstocks reach maturity in five years in large floating
cages, but may take 8-10 years in ponds and concrete tanks.
On average, first-spawning broodstocks tend to be smaller
than adults caught from the wild. As a result, first-time
spawners produce fewer eggs than wild adults, but larger and
older broodstocks produce as many eggs as wild adults of
similar size. Broodstocks of about 8 years old and averaging
6 kg produce 3-4 million eggs.
● Broodstocks reach maturity in five years in large
floating cages, but may take 8-10 years in ponds and
concrete tanks. On average, first-spawning
broodstocks tend to be smaller than adults caught
from the wild. As a result, first-time spawners produce
fewer eggs than wild adults, but larger and older
broodstocks produce as many eggs as wild adults of
similar size. Broodstocks of about 8 years old and
averaging 6 kg produce 3-4 million eggs.
● Wild-caught fry are collected with fine-mesh seines and bag
nets of various indigenous designs in the Philippines, Taiwan
Province of China and Indonesia. The most commonly used
gear are push net 'sweepers' and dragged seines.
 Hatchery Production

Milkfish hatcheries consist of larval rearing tanks, culture tanks

for rotifers (Brachionus) and green algae (e.g. Chlorella) and
hatching tanks for brine shrimp (Artemia). Larval rearing may
be either operated in outdoor or indoor systems, depending on
the specific conditions in the countries where fry are being
produced.
Hatchery operations utilize either intensive (high stocking
density, high volume tanks, daily feeding and water exchange)
or semi-intensive (low stocking density, high volume tanks,
minimal water exchange, feeding with mixed diet) systems,
with an average survival rate of 30 percent (from stocked
newly-hatched larvae). After hatching, the larvae are ideally
kept at 50/litre in hatchery tanks (either concrete, fibreglass,
canvas or polypropylene-covered earthen tanks) maintained
with Chlorella and fed with rotifers during the early stages and
later with copepods or brine shrimp for a total of 3-4 weeks.
Following this, their size ranges between 2-3 cm and they are
ready for transport to nurseries.
The fry may change hands two or more times before being used for
grow-out; each time this happens, they are sorted and counted,
transported, and stored for different periods of time. Fry are a highly
perishable commodity and some of them die during gathering, storage,
transport, nursery rearing and grow-out. The technologies for fry
storage and transport are generally effective, although perhaps not yet
optimized. Fry are stored in a cool place in plastic basins or clay pots at
100-500/litre, in water of 10-25‰, which is renewed daily. Dealers
may store fry for 1-7 days, depending on the demand. Fry can be
maintained on wheat flour or cooked chicken egg yolk for 1-2 weeks
but soon begin to die, despite continued feeding. Recently, micro-
encapsulated feeds have become commercially available for finfish but
the cost compared to conventional live feeds is higher.
 Nursery
Nursery operations in milkfish producing countries vary according to
established cultural practices.

In Taiwan Province of China, where commercial hatchery and nursery

productions are integrated enterprises, milkfish fry are generally grown
in either earthen ponds or elevated canvas or concrete tanks at
intensive stocking densities of >2 000/litre.

In Indonesia, a well established backyard-type nursery is used. This

consists of a series of elevated canvas or concrete 1-2 tonnes tanks and
similar stocking densities to those used in Taiwan Province of China are
employed.
● In the Philippines, milkfish nurseries are integrated with grow-out facilities,
where wild-caught or hatchery-reared fry are first acclimated into nursery
compartments which comprise one third to one quarter of the total area of the
Brackish water pond. Fry are stocked at a density of up to 1 000/litre and are
fed with a naturally-grown micro-benthic food known as 'lab-lab' which grows
on the fertilized pond bottom. Nursery rearing has also been carried out in hapa
type suspended nylon nets installed in Brackish water ponds or lagoons and in
freshwater lakes within the grow-out compartments, a traditionally practice in
the Philippines. When natural food is becoming depleted, artificial feeds such as
rice bran, corn bran, and stale bread or formulated feeds are provided. In about
4-6 weeks, the fry grow to 5-8 cm juveniles, which is the ideal size for releasing
into grow-out ponds or pens. Depending on the desired grow-out period,
juveniles or fingerling size milkfish are kept in nurseries or transition holding
tanks up to the required stocking size of 30-40 g. Nursery rearing from fry to
fingerling size normally achieves 70 percent survival.
 On growing techniques
( Pond Culture)
Milkfish may be ongrown in ponds, pens or cages.

Culture of milkfish in ponds may be in shallow or deep water systems.Shallow

water culture is practiced mainly in Indonesia and the Philippines. Milkfish are
traditionally cultured in shallow Brackish water ponds in which the growth of
benthic algae is encouraged through inorganic or organic fertilization. Milkfish will
survive on benthic algae alone only if the productivity of the algae exceeds the
grazing rate of the fish; otherwise, supplemental commercial feeds are applied. The
'lab-lab' culture system in the Philippines is equivalent to shallow water culture in
Taiwan Province of China. 'Lab-lab' is the term used in this country for the algal
mat (and all micro-organisms associated with it) in the ongrowing ponds.
● Deep water culture was developed in the mid 1970s in response to
the decline of profitability of shallow water culture, and the limited
and increasing value of land and manpower resources. Deep-water
ponds provide a more stable environment and extend the grow-out
period into the winter season. Most deep-water milkfish ponds
have been created by converting either shallow water ponds or
freshwater ponds, with a depth of 2-3 m. Production from these
systems has sharply increased in Taiwan Province of China, having
expanded from 23 percent of the total production in 1981 to 75
percent in 1990.
 Pen Culture
● This system was introduced in the Philippines in 1979 in the Laguna Lake. At
that time, the lake had a very high primary productivity, which met the
nutritional needs of milkfish. Because of the low rate of input and the high rate
of return, the pen culture area increased sharply from 1973 to 1983, and
exceeded more than 50 percent of the total lake surface, which is 90 000 ha. As
the primary production of the lake could not meet this sudden expansion of
aquaculture, and feeding became necessary to meet the nutritional
requirements of the cultured fish, the pen culture practices developed in lakes
were later introduced into inter-tidal areas in the Philippines along coves and
river estuaries as well. Pen operators stock fingerlings at 30 000-35 000/ha and
provide supplemental commercial diets. However, disease spreads among
culture pens and causes mass mortality. Government regulations are now being
considered to maintain sustainable yields from this type of farming.
 Cage Culture

Fish cages are smaller and more restricted enclosures that can
be staked in shallow waters or set-up in deep water with
appropriate floats and anchors. Cage farming of milkfish is
commonly carried out in marine waters along coastal bays.
Stocking rates (in the Philippines) are quite high, from 5 up to
30/m³.
 Feed Supply
In the past, traditional feeding practices for milkfish grow-out production have
consisted of natural food ('lab-lab') or a combination of phytoplankton and
macroalgae (Enteromorpha intestinales, Cladophora spp. or Chaetomorpha linnum)
encouraged by fertilization. In the 1980s however, special commercial feeds for
milkfish were developed and became almost exclusively used. As cage and pen
culture technology proliferated in the 1990s, both in marine and inland waters,
extruded milkfish feeds were further developed into floating and semi-floating
forms, while sinking forms were used for pond and tank-based grow-out. Feed
supplies are now manufactured commercially in the form of starters, growers and
finishers, which are administered according to the production stage of the milkfish.
 Harvesting Techniques
● Milkfish are normally harvested at sizes of 20-40 cm (about 250-500 g). There
are three known methods used for harvesting milkfish:Partial harvest. Selective
harvest of uniformly grown milkfish from grow-out facilities (i.e. cages, pens,
ponds, tanks) using seine or gillnets, retaining the undersize fish and harvesting
only the commercial sized stocks, with an average body weight of 250 g or
larger.
● Total harvest. Complete harvest in one crop period from grow-out facilities (i.e.
total draining of ponds by gravity or pump, hauling of the entire net cage
structure, seining or the use of gillnets in pens). The harvest size at this stage
may vary from 250-500 g.
● Forced harvest. Emergency harvesting, regardless of fish size or grow-out stage,
which is carried out during 'fish kills' due to oxygen depletions that are attributed
to algal blooms, red tide occurrence, pollution or other environmental causes.
 Production Cost
Milkfish farming is a centuries-old industry in Indonesia, Taiwan
Province of China and the Philippines. It has been slow to modernize
and now faces challenges from competing aquaculture species and
current economic realities. The domestic market is large and the export
market has globally expanded. Milkfish price and personal income affect
the amount of milkfish consumed in the countries of origin. Studies
conducted in Taiwan Province of China and the Philippines concluded
that price and income had a negative and positive elasticity coefficient,
respectively.
 Responsible Aquaculture Practices
Due to global market demand, major milkfish producing countries have
recently been promoting management practices that address food quality
and safety issues. At the farm level for example, the Philippines complies
with the minimum aquaculture HACCP requirements, from hatchery
production to harvest, before milkfish products are processed for export.
Taiwan Province of China has introduced product eco-labelling in order to
export quality branded processed milkfish products, while Indonesia
ensures the quality of milkfish fry when exporting to neighbouring Asian
countries and accompanies them with health certificates. Traceability in the
use of antibiotics and unregulated drugs is already strictly imposed in these
countries.
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