Better practice guidelines for fish farmers in the Philippines to reduce aquaculture impact

1. Better Practice Guidelines (BPGs) for
marine pen and cage farmers for
responsible and sustainable production
Bureau of Fisheries
and Aquatic
Resources
Marine
Environment and
Resources
Foundation
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
1

2. Better Practice Guidelines (BPGs)
• Better-Practice Guidelines aim to give farmers sensible
and practical guidelines to follow in the planning,
management and operation of their farms.
• These guidelines are based on lessons learned from
local and international practice or scientific research.
• Better Practice Guidelines are useful to improve our
ways of working (knowledge, skills, capacity and
practices).
• These guidelines are being developed as good practice
guidelines that if followed, would encourage responsible
and sustainable production.
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
2

3. Better Practice Guidelines (BPGs)
• They incorporate many of the DA-BAFPS BAPS but are
focussed on particular culture systems and mitigating
aquaculture impact on the environment.
• It is hoped that these guidelines will be taken up by
producer organisations, mariculture parks, aquaculture
parks, clusters of farmers and large farmers.
• It would be difficult for a farmer to implement all
guidelines immediately but it is hoped that the farmers
will start to implement some immediately and gradually
implement the others as time goes by.
• These guidelines have been prepared for cage and pen
operators with emphasis on mitigating environmental
impact.
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
3

4. Better Practice Guidelines (BPGs)
• These BPGs cover both cages and pens in marine,
brackish and freshwaters. The guidelines cover the
culture practice from the purchase of fry or fingerlings
until the point of sale.
• Different BPGs should be developed depending on
species, culture system and geographical location.
• It is recommended that for the Philippines the following
BPGs are developed.
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Hatchery and nursery
Cage and pen culture
Pond culture
Mollusc culture
Seaweed culture
Post harvest
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
4

5. BPG sections
• This BMG is separated in to sections which follow the
culture process as follows;
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Planning and siting
Farm design and construction
Broodstock and hatchery management
Production management
• Feed and feed management
• Fish health and welfare
• Quality and food safety
Harvest and post harvest management
Monitoring and evaluation
Record keeping
Socio aspects (staff training, health and safety)
Environmental mitigation
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
5

6. Cross-cutting issues
• Within each section there are crosscutting
issues that need to be addressed
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Legal and regulatory
Genetics and biodiversity
Biosecurity
Sustainable operation
Environment
• Efforts have been made to ensure that the
poorer small scale farmers are not put at a
disadvantage from the BPGs
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
6

7. Planning and siting principles
• Environmentally suitable areas
• Water supply sufficient and suitable for
aquaculture Water with adequate current flow
for flushing of organic matter
• Minimise impact to sensitive habitats
• Long-term sustainability
• Avoid conflicts with other coastal users
• Avoid navigational routes
• Avoid sites with fluctuating water quality
• Integrated with local community
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
7

8. Farm design and construction principles
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Design appropriate to location and environment
Design with biosecurity in mind
Use appropriate materials
Consider the health and safety aspects of
workers
• Use integrated aquaculture where possible (fish,
mollusc and seaweed)
• Flexible and low risk technology
• Design for ease of operation and management
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
8

9. Fry and Fingerling purchase or collection
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Use domesticated stocks wherever possible
Give preference to local and indigenous
species
Use hatchery reared stocks in preference to
wild caught
Purchase from a disease free source
Give prophylactic treatment before stocking
Acclimatise fry before stocking
Grow to a sufficient size before strocking
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
9

10. Production management
• Operation and husbandry
• Feed and feed management
– Use good quality formulated feeds.
– Make efficient use of fish feed (do not
overfeed or waste feed)
– Minimize feed wastage.
– Feeds must meet the nutritional requirements
of the fish
– Feed storage
– Use of medicated feeds
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
10

11. Fish health
• Biosecurity
– Farms should make appropriate provisions for
biosecurity
• Prevention
– Health management at hatcheries and farms should
focus on disease prevention through good nutrition,
sound management, and overall stress reduction
rather than disease treatment.
• Treatments
– Quarantine, prophylactic treatments, etc.
• Chemicals
– Use, storage, disposal
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
11

12. Fish welfare
• Transport
– minimise stress of the stock during
transportation
• Husbandry and handling
– minimise stress of the stock during the culture
(sufficient feed, good water quality, etc)
– Minimise stress during handling and grading
at any stage of production.
• Harvesting and killing
– Fish should be killed humanely and quickly
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
12

13. Fish quality and food safety
• Use of chemicals & drugs
• Analysis for hazardous substances,
harmful algae, fish borne disease
• Traceability
• HACCP
• Record keeping
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
13

14. Harvest and post harvest management
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Harvesting
Pre-chilling
Packaging
Storage
Transport and distribution
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
14

15. Monitoring and record keeping
• Monitoring
– Production
– Environment
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Record keeping
Documentation
Traceability
Reporting
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
15

16. Social issues (staff training, health and
safety)
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Social responsibilities
Staff training
Staff health
Staff safety
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
16

17. Environmental management
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Planning for sustainable production
Operation in a responsible manner
Bio Wastes
Other wastes
THEME: Bridging the gaps in the Philippine
Aquaculture “Hotspots”
© www.akvaplan.niva.no
17