TILAPIA is the most popular fish staple, but very few are aware that rearing tilapia does have an impact on the environment as these are grown in freshwater ponds occupying vast tracts of land, and consequently utilizing huge volumes of water that would have been put to better use for agriculture or for consumption when tapped from the source.
Enter the saline Molobicus, a hybrid species that can be grown in high-saline environments, like brackishwater, which the regular tilapia would not have survived in.
"The regular tilapia die at salinity level 10 to 15 ppt (parts per thousand). Our Molobicus will tolerate and grow at 35 ppt, that's seawater, or higher," said Dr. Westly R. Rosario, chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Bfar)-National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) based in Dagupan City in an online interview last week.
With this new hybrid, it is expected that tilapia production will move to brackishwater ponds as the Molobicus is found to be tastier and grow bigger, thus, possibly freeing the freshwater ponds from tilapia production.
"Production in freshwater runs counter with other uses of freshwater like household use," Dr. Rosario said in describing what other side benefits the production of Molobicus could bring.
A product of almost 20 years of research and development at the NIFTDC, the Molobicus was developed in response to the death of the Black Tiger Shrimp industry due to a disease that left hectares upon hectares of brackishwater ponds idle all across the country.
The Molobicus Tilapia program began in 1999 at the Bfar-NIFTDC that sought to combine the high-salinity tolerance of the Mossambicus or the Mozambique tilapia with the fast growth of the Niloticus or the Nile Tilapia.
As described in the Bfar-FIDTC brochure on this new species for aquaculture development,t he Phase 1 of the program "involved the crossbreeding of the two species until the desired salinity tolerance was attained."
Phase 2 involved increasing its growth rate, genetically improving the new hybrid.
"During this phase, two Molobicus strains -- one fed with natural food and the other with commercial feed -- were put under selective breeding. Here, the heaviest individuals of each family were selected and used as breeders of the next generation, providing an increment growth of 7.3%," the brochure reads.
The two strains are now on their eight generation (GO8) and intitial dstribution nationwide has already been initiated, even as Phase II is still on-going to better improve the fish as a fast-growing, sailne-resistant hybrid.
It is gaining popularity in the market because the Molobicus has a smaller head and bigger, rounder body, with the taste and texture similar to a marine fish. In short, the usual complaint about a muddy taste does not occur with the Molobicus, and the meat is firmer, much like other marine fishes.
"It has advantages such as high Omega3 fatty acids, best food conversion ratio, taste is much better expansion of production area is almost endless," Dr. Rosario said.
Production of tilapia by type of environment for 2016 as reported by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (http://countrystat.psa.gov.ph) showed freshwater culture as the biggest source producing a total of 241,329.98 metric tons. Those reared in brackishwater, marine pens and cages and as rice fish and in small farm reservoirs only contributed 17,717.57 metric tons to the total annual production.
Freshwater fishponds contributed the bulk with 140,540.71 metric tons production in 2016, followed by freshwater cages at 83,185.13 metric tons, and freshwater pens with 17,604.14 metric tons.
As BAS reported, the complete list of the different environments for tilapia and volume of production (in metric tons) for 2016 are as follows:
1. freshwater cage tilapia - 83,185.13; freshwater pen tilapia - 17,604.14; freshwater fishpond - 140,540.71
2. brackishwater fishpond - 17,511.80; brackishwater pen - 57.71; brackishwater cage - 94.12
3. marine pen - 1.03; marine cage - 1.44
4. rice fish - 2.18
5. small farm reservoir - 47.29
With the better taste, texture, bigger size, and fast growth of the Molobicus, prospects for brackishwater and marine production of tilapia looks positive and can easily overtake the freshwater production.
Bfar-NIFTDC sees the Molobicus tilapia as the key in realizing Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol's vision of turning the Philippines into one ofthe world's top tilapia producer.
To better disseminate this hybrid, Bfar-NIFTDC is holding trainings and seminars on the breeding and culture of the fish with the help of the Asian Fisheries Academy.
The center has also set up hatcheries in pilot areas so the fingerlings can be easily disseminated to the fisherfolk, regional offices of the Bfar, and local government units. It plans to put up 40 more satellite Molobicus hatcheries all over the Philippines as part of the Bfar's Comprehensive National Fisheries Industry Development Plan.
"Molobicus saline tilapia hybrid is the future of tilapia aquaculture in the Philippines and many countries in the world," Dr. Rosario said.
[Bfar-NIFTDC can be contacted through email: bfarniftdc@yahoo.com or through telephone numbers (075)653-5412 and (075)653-0385.]