Mud crab production in mangrove areas feasible

It is feasible and economically viable to integrate mud crab (alimango) aquaculture within natural mangroves.

Attesting to this are results of a study by Eduard Rodriguez and Avelino Triño of the government-hosted Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC AQD) based in Tigbauan, Iloilo.

Titled "Pen Culture of mud crab Scylla serrata in tidal flats reforested with mangrove trees," the 160-day research aimed to determine the growth and survival of mud crab in mangrove pens and demonstrate its economic viability.

The experimental setup consisted of mixed sex mud crabs held in 12 200-square-meter pens located in reforested mangrove tidal flats.

The pens were designed so that the function of mangroves as nursery grounds for commercial exploited fishes and crustaceans was not hampered.

Determined were the effects of stocking density (0.5 or 1.5 crabs/sq m) and feed (salted fish bycatch or a mixed diet of 75 percent salted brown mussel or "tahong" flesh and 25 percent salted fish bycatch).

Cost-return analysis showed that the use of either of the two stocking density with either diet was economically viable. However, crabs stocked at 1.5 sq m fed with mixed diet is more profitable owing to high yield and cost efficiency of the diet. – Rudy A. Fernandez