Annual sampling on milkfish broodstock at AQD

Does milkfish broodstock need an annual check-up? According to AQD researcher Ms. Ofelia Reyes, annual sampling on milkfish broodstock is needed before the spawning period (February – November) starts to monitor the maturity of the fish. Not only that, this is also the time to check the sex ratio and to totally clean the tank in preparation for the whole spawning season.

On 17 January, 71 milkfish broodstock were sampled at AQD’s Integrated Fish Broodstock Hatchery Complex in Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines. The 30-year old broodstock have an average length of 100 cm and weight 11 kg. These have been producing good quality eggs since the start of the broodstock hatchery complex in 1999. In 2012, AQD milkfish hatchery produced about 66 million eggs, 48 million newly-hatched larvae and 8 million fry.

Meanwhile, the crew of PTV-4 “Mag-agri Tayo” filmed AQD’s facilities and activities at the marine fish hatchery on 17 January. The video on nursery culture of high value marine fish was featured on 26 January and can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/magagritayo. School children from the Kinaadman Elementary School Inc. came as witnesses to the milkfish sampling.