MONOSEX PRODUCTION

OF TILAPIA

Maria Jessa Esabel A. Dumancas

Aquacultural Technologist I
Early Maturation/Reproduction in Tilapia
 Reproduce at an early stage
in a culture systems
 Reproduction will promote to
competition in space, food,
and habitat and will result to
predominance of small and
unmarketable fish at harvest
Advantages of Monoculture of Tilapia

 1. Higher growth rate of one sex

 2. Preventing large energy diversion into:
1. Gonad production
2. Courtship behavior
3. Production of uneconomic recruits
 Reducing aggressive interactions
 4. Greater uniformity at harvest
 5. Avoiding undesirable impacts of sexual maturation on appearance
and flesh quality
 6. Reducing unfavorable environmental impacts of escapes
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
1. Separation of sexes (manual sexing) after an initial growth period
2. Stocking of predacious fish in tilapia ponds
3. Periodic harvesting of tilapia fry and fingerlings
4. Culture in cages
5. Culture at very high densities in ponds or raceways
6. Stocking hybrid “all-male” fingerlings
7. Feed tilapia fry with male hormones to produce “all-male” tilapia or sex-reversed tilapia
8. Broodstock sex reversal or production of “YY males”
9. Environmental manipulation – temperature
10. Sterilization – triploids via application of temperature (heat/cold) or pressure shocks to
fertilized eggs
 Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

1. Manual Sexing
• Separate males from females
• Males grow faster than the females
• Requires trained labor
•Permissible level of female is < 4% of the population
Disadvantages:
• Difficult for large ponds since large numbers of fish are
needed
• The process is slow
• Unreliable (human error)
• Labor-intensive
• Uneconomical
• Tedious
• Females are discarded
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
2. Polyculture w/ Predatory Fish
• Done commercially
•Ratio of predators to tilapia is 1:10 to 1:20
• Controls excessive reproduction
• Produces two different kinds of fish
(primary crops + predatory crops)
• Large tilapia will be stocked initially or
they will be eaten
• Often difficult to get enough number of
predator fingerlings
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

3. Periodic Harvesting of Fry

and Fingerlings

• Reduce competition for food

• Effective in small ponds
• Labor intensive
• Requires little skill
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

4. Culture in Cages
• Culture in cages which are suspended
above the pond bottom
• Spawned eggs fall through the cage mesh
and die preventing overcrowding
• Cage materials may be expensive
• Requires intensive feeding with high
quality ration
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
5. Culture at High Densities

• Crowding reduces the urge to

reproduce
• Intensive feeding with a high quality
ration is required
• Good water supply must be available
• Requires aeration devices
• Requires skilled management
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

6. Stocking of Hybrid
Fingerlings
Crossbreeding or Hybridization
• Firstapplication of genetics on tilapia
culture (Hickling’s, 1960) to produce “mules”
or sterile fish thru crossing:
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
Crossbreeding and Hybridization
Advantages:
• Easy solution for monosex
production
• Implemented commercially
Disadvantages:
• Low fecundity
• Difficult to maintain two (2)
pure lines of broodfish
• Hybrid fingerlings are expensive
to produce
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
Hormonal Sex Redirection

• Raise the level of male hormone in

the bloodstream of sexually
undifferentiated fry before they
become male or female
• Does not alter the genotype of the
fish but directs expression of the
phenotype
• Considered most effective and
economically feasible
• Simplicity in production techniques
• Method: Oral administration of
hormone treated diet
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
Hormonal Sex Redirection
DAYS AFTER HATCHING

• Treatment starts after the yolk-sac is completely absorbed (0.009 g or 17 DAH )

• Stocking density: 1,000 fry/m2 or 12 fry/L
• Treatment duration: 21 to 28 days
Preparation of Hormone Treated Diet

Dose of Hormone
• Hapa in pond :
60 mg/kg of feed
• Tank and Aquaria :
40 mg/kg of feed
• 320 mL hormone
alcohol solution/1 Kg
of fry mash
 Storage of Hormone Treated Feeds

•The moist feed (newly prepared

hormone treated feeds) is air dried
(out of direct sunlight) or stirred in
the mixer until dry then stored under
dark, dry conditions.
• Androgens will breakdown when
exposed to sunlight or high
temperatures.
• Both the pure hormone, any stock
solution, and treated feed should be
stored in the dark at room
temperature or less.
 Evaluation of Treatment Efficacy

• Treatment efficacy should be based on a

detailed examination of the gonads of a
representative sample of fish.

• Tilapia can be sexed with reasonable

certainty based on the appearance of the
genital papilla if they have not been
hormone treated.

• But for hormone treated fish the nature of

the gonad does not always correspond with
the shape of the papilla.
• A gonadal squash technique is used to
examine the gonad.
 Evaluation of Treatment Efficacy

Macroscopic
Observation of Gonads

o Male is identified by the

presence of a hair like
transparent gonad

o Female is identified by the

presence of slightly bigger gonad
w/cream or opaque color
Evaluation of Treatment Efficacy
 Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

Hormonal Sex Redirection (Phytoandrogen)

• The Central Luzon State University
(CLSU) under the DOST National
Tilapia Research and Development
Program tested the pollen from pine
trees for sex reversal of tilapia.

• It is an environment friendly
approach and could be an alternative
to the use of high-priced standard
hormone in sex change.

Efficacy: 84.59-90.46% males

 Hormone Treatment Consideration

 Oral administration of hormone treated diet is commonly

applied commercially
 Hormone will degrade if not stored properly
 Uniformity of hormone in feed and hierarchies among fish
 Feminization by high dosage or longer period
 Concerns over health and environment
Health and Environmental Concerns over SR Tilapia

 The hormone does not have any adverse effect on fish flesh
after cessation of treatment of tilapia fry.

 In like manner, ingestion of fish produced by sex reversal

does not therefore harm man. However, one is not too sure
of the effect of the hormone or it’s by-products on vital
organs (liver, kidney, pancreas and gills), metabolic profile
and nucleic acids. This may also affect muscle building and
perceived libido-enhancement in man.

 On the environment, the steroid is either biodegraded or

mineralized. It must be stated that escape from tilapia
hatchery into the natural water may, however, alter the
dynamics of the environment due to unforeseen
consequences.
 Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

Supermales or YY Tilapia

 Combines feminization and progeny testing

to produce novel males with YY genotypes

 Safer alternative to hormonal sex redirection

(health and environmental)

 YY male tilapia paired with normal female

will produce ~100% naturally male tilapia
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction

Environmental Manipulation

 Tilapia is a thermo-sensitive
species and its male to female
ratio increases with temperature
and/or ovarian differentiation is
induced by low temperature.

 Temperature treatments must be

applied at a critical sensitive
period, relatively similar to the
hormone sensitive period.
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
Temperature effects on sex Reference
differentiation
 The highest value of male ratio
 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-9546.10
(91.50%) was obtained at
00507
temperature of 35°C after four
weeks of rearing
 Exposure to the lower temperature
before 10 days old induced a high
proportion of females whereas a  https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-010X
high proportion of males was (20000401)286:5%3c534::AID-JEZ11%3e3.
induced by the elevated 0.CO;2-2
temperature after 10 days old.
 High temperatures (above 32°C to  https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pon
36.5°C) induce masculinization e.0212504
Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
Sterilization or Triploidy
• The production of sterile fishes
following the technique of triploidy
induction in tilapia is one of the options
for avoiding overcrowding during grow-
out culture

• Triploidy induction can be artificially

induced in fishes by suppressing the
second meiotic division or by preventing
the escape of the second polar body from
recently fertilized eggs by applying
various shock treatments (temperature,
pressure)
 Methods for Controlling Tilapia Reproduction
Method Commercial Application Advantages Disadvantages
Sorting/ manual sexing Rarely Procedurally easy • Not reliable
• Labor intensive
Hormonal sex reversal Yes High male percentage • Relatively expensive
• Hormonal residues
• Worker protection
• Needs high level of control
• Public perceptions

Interspecific hybridization Yes Procedurally easy Possible environmental impacts

through escapes

YY/GMT (supermale) Rarely • Suitable for species with Vigilance needed in selection and
heterogametic male maintenance of broodstock
• Reliable and consistent
• Environmental Friendly

Tripoloidy No • Suitable for species with Difficulty to apply on a commercial

homogametic male scale in many species
Feeding Guide, Feeding Computations
and Cost and Return Analysis for Sex
Reversal Treatment of Tilapia using 17
Alpha Methyl Testosterone (Sex Reversal
Hormone)
 Stocking density: 15,000 fry m2
 Size of hapa: 5 x 3 x 1.5 m (length, width, height respectively)

 Area of hapa: 5 x 3 m = 15 m2

 Dosage of hormone: 60 mg (0.06 g) of 17 α Methyl testosterone per kg of feeds or

600 mg
(0.6 g) per 10 kg of feeds

 Dosage of alcohol: 3 liters of alcohol for every 10 kg of feeds (ethyl alcohol

(80-95%)
should be used to dissolve the hormone

 Frequency of feeding: 6 times a day

 Treatment duration: 21 days

 Age and weight of fry to be treated:

less than 17 days old or about 0.009 g to 0.02 g

 Size and weight of fingerlings after the treatment:

 A. Feeding Guide

Time of Weight of feeds to Weight of feeds to Weight of feeds to

feeding/day be given/feeding be given/feeding be given/feeding
for the 1st week for the 2nd week for the 3rd week
9 25g 35.6g 50.6g
10 25g 35.6g 50.6g
11 25g 35.6g 50.6g
1 25g 35.6g 50.6g
2 25g 35.6g 50.6g
3 25g 35.6g 50.6g
4 25g 35.6g 50.6g
 B. Feeding Computations

 DFR= No. of fry to be treated x ABW of fry x feeding rate

1. Daily Feeding Requirements:
 1st week 15,000 x 0.02 x 0.50 = 150 g ÷ 6 = 25 g/feeding
 2nd week 15,000 x 95% survival x 0.06 x 0.25 = 213 g ÷ 6 = 35.6 g/feeding
 3rd week 15,000 x 90% survival x 0.09 x 0.25 = 303.75 g ÷ 6 = 50.6 g/feeding

2. Total Feeds To Be Given:

 Week 1 150g x 7 days = 1,050 g
 Week 2 213g x 7 days = 1,496 g
 Week 3 303.75g x 7 days = 2,126 g
 4,672 g or 4.672 kgs for 15,000 pcs fry
 C. Simple Cost and Return Analysis for
Sex Reversal Treatment of Tilapia
 Stocking Density = 15,000 pcs in 5 x 3 x 1.5 m hapa

 Operating Cost
 Fry 15,000 pcs x 7 cents/pc
= ₱ 1,050.00
 Feeds (fry mash) 4.67 kgs x 44.71/kg =
208.80
 Hormone 0.28 g MT x ₱170/g
= 47.60
 Gin 1.5 liters x ₱100/320ml
= 150.00
 Ethyl Alcohol 100 mL x ₱100/liter =
10.00
 C. Simple Cost and Return Analysis for
Sex Reversal Treatment of Tilapia
 Gross Sales 13,500 pcs survived x ₱0.45 each =
₱ 6,075.00
 Net Income gross sales – operating cost 6,075 -2,166.40 = ₱
3,908.60

 Production Cost = 0.14/pc

Excludes cost of hapas, ropes, basins, etc

 FCR = 1.5
THANK YOU!