SEAFDEC/AQD Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center | Aquaculture Department
The Dumangas Brackishwater Station (DBS) of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) is located about 20 km northeast of Iloilo City Philippines. DBS is a 16-hapond are intended to verify research and demonstrate developed aquaculture technologies. It houses field laboratories for routine chemical and microbiological analysis.
History
The research facility was donated by the Philippine’s Department of Agriculture to SEAFDEC in 1998 and has since hosted various research, production, and technology verification studies.
Research
Among the technologies developed and verified in the station are environment-friendly schemes for the farming of tiger shrimp. The nutrient dynamics of shrimp culture systems have been studied here and bioremediation strategies were explored.
Pond nursery and grow-out production have been improved and verified for various fishes such as milkfish, groupers, seabass, snappers and siganids. The polyculture of these marine fishes has been pursued and a two-phase nursery system was developed to improve survival. Fingerlings produced by DBS are used in SEAFDEC experiments or sold to private farms.
Mud crab nursery and grow-out studies are also being conducted in the station. Mangrove-friendly mud crab pen culture has likewise been demonstrated in a mangrove area within the station.
A variety of natural algal and zooplankton food, as well as formulated feeds, has been tested in the station in efforts to bring down production cost, decrease the use of fish by-catch, and improve growth.
To prevent the occurrence and spread of diseases, proper biosecurity measures are implemented in the station. DBS stocks are also monitored routinely by a disease-diagnostic laboratory in SEAFDEC’s Tigbauan Main Station.
Services
The station accommodates students, technicians, and other parties for study-visits and hands-on training on brackishwater aquaculture.
DBS also provides technical services to other fish farmers by offering consultation as well as physico-chemical analysis of water and plankton samples.