MILKFISH

Presenters:
Callena, Lorey Joy O.
De Vera, Drazen Mae C.
 Milkfish farming in Indonesia, Taiwan Province of China
and the Philippines started about 4-6 centuries ago.

Historical Culture methods in a variety of enclosures are

constantly being improved upon. Since the 1970s, large
Background investments have been made in the Philippines (as well as in
Taiwan Province of China, Indonesia and Hawaii) in terms of
infrastructure, research, credit and training in support to the
milkfish industry.

March 5, 2025 Page 2

 Government agencies and fisheries institutions were
also involved in a national effort to intensify milkfish
farming from the mid 1970s until now. In this work,
research and development on farming systems, breeding
and fry production technologies was carried out.
There was no attempt at genetic improvement but
fry translocation and trade occurred between Indonesia,
Taiwan Province of China and the Philippines and
geographic variations and heterogeneity were
documented.
More recently, unconfirmed reports indicate that
milkfish are now being cultured to fingerling or juvenile
size in the South Pacific Islands and in Singapore as tuna
bait. March 5, 2025 Page 3
 Milkfish farming was
previously a traditional industry,
with little emphasis on
producing sexually mature,
reproductively active fish in
captivity. The traditional milkfish
industry depended totally on an
annual restocking of farm ponds
with fingerlings reared from
wild-caught fry. As a result, the
industry suffered from regional,
seasonal and annual variations
in fry availability. These
variations are generally
unpredictable and may be quite
large over short periods of time.
March 5, 2025 Page 4
 Main
producer
countries

Page March 5, 2025 5

 Production Volume
Country
(MT)

Quantitative Indonesia ~300,000

data on the
Philippine
production of s
~250,000

Chanos chanos
Taiwan ~50,000
(milkfish).
India ~30,000

Thailand ~10,000

Page March 5, 2025 6

 Habitat and
biology
Taxonomy: The only species in the family
Chanidae.
Distribution: Found in tropical and
subtropical regions with temperatures >20
°C. Range includes:
• Western Indo-Pacific: Red Sea,
South Africa, Hawaii, Marquesas.
• Northern Hemisphere: Japan,
Victoria (Australia), California to
Galapagos (Eastern Pacific).
Habitat: Adults inhabit coastal waters,
coral reefs, and islands. Juveniles occupy
mangroves, estuaries, and freshwater lakes
before returning to sea.
Biology:
• Size:
• Max size: 180 cm (males), 124 cm
(females).
• Max weight: 14 kg; lifespan: up to
March 5, 2025 Page
15 years. 7
• Reproduction:
• Sexually mature at 5 years.
• Spawning: Fully saline waters, near coral
reefs, triggered by moon phases (new/full
moon).
• Eggs: Pelagic; 1.1-1.2 mm diameter, hatch
within ~36 hours.
• Larvae: Pelagic for 2-3 weeks; migrate
onshore to mangroves or freshwater
wetlands.
• Diet:
• Juveniles: Zooplankton.
• Adults: Microbial mats, detritus, epiphytes,
and zooplankton.
• Resilience: Low, with a population doubling
time of 4.5-14 years.
• Other Key Details:
• Sex: Heterosexual, with nearly equal male-to-
female ratio. Pheromones are used to
distinguish mature males.
• Economic Importance:
• Highly valued in aquaculture, especially in
March
Southeast 5, 2025
Asia. Page 8
Production
Production
cycle

March 5, 2025 Page 9

Production systems
1. Sources of Fry:
•Wild Fry:
•Collected from coastal or littoral waters using fine-mesh seines and
bag nets.
•Supply is unpredictable and has diminished over time, unable to
meet demand.
• Captive Fry:
•Produced from captive broodstock in hatcheries, ensuring a more
reliable supply.
2. Development of Broodstock:
•Captive Conditions:
•Juvenile milkfish are raised in floating sea cages (Philippines),
saline ponds, or large concrete tanks (Indonesia and Taiwan).
•Requires fresh pumped seawater, often integrated with hatcheries.
March 5, 2025 Page 10
•Maturity Timeline:
•Matures in 5 years in floating cages.
•Takes 8–10 years in ponds or tanks.
•First-spawning broodstock are smaller and produce fewer
eggs than wild adults. Larger broodstock (~8 years, 6 kg)
can produce 3–4 million eggs.
3. Breeding in Captivity:
•Predominantly relies on natural spawning with high survival
rates.
•Spawning behaviors:
•Increased swimming, chasing, leaping, and water-slapping
activities.
•Typically occurs around midnight, occasionally during the
day.
4. Wild-Caught Fry:
•Harvested using indigenous fishing gear like push nets and
dragged seines in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
March 5, 2025 Page 11
 Hatchery production
1. Hatchery Setup:
•Includes larval rearing tanks, culture tanks for rotifers (Brachionus) and
green algae (Chlorella), and hatching tanks for brine shrimp (Artemia).
•Larval rearing can be done in outdoor or indoor systems depending on
local conditions.
2. Hatchery Systems:
•Intensive Systems: High stocking density, high-volume tanks, daily
feeding, and water exchange.
•Semi-intensive Systems: Low stocking density, high-volume tanks,
minimal water exchange, feeding with a mixed diet.
•Average survival rate: ~30% from newly-hatched larvae.

March 5, 2025 Page 12

3. Rearing Process:
•Larvae are stocked at 50/litre in tanks (concrete, fiberglass, canvas, or
polypropylene-covered earthen tanks).
•Early feeding: Chlorella and rotifers.
•Later feeding: Copepods or brine shrimp (Artemia).
•Duration: 3-4 weeks, after which larvae reach 2-3 cm and are ready for transport
to nurseries.
4. Fry Handling and Transport:
•Fry often change hands multiple times (sorted, counted, transported, and
stored).
•Storage: In cool plastic basins or clay pots at 100-500/litre, in water with 10-
25‰ salinity, renewed daily.
•Dealers store fry for 1-7 days, feeding with wheat flour or cooked chicken egg
yolk (1-2 weeks max).
•Fry mortality occurs during gathering, storage, transport, and grow-out.
5. Feeding Innovations:
•Micro-encapsulated feeds are now commercially available but are more
expensive than traditional live feeds.
March 5, 2025 Page 13
Nursery
1. Taiwan Province of China:
•Integrated hatchery and nursery enterprises.
•Milkfish fry reared in earthen ponds or elevated
canvas/concrete tanks.
•Intensive stocking densities: >2,000 fry/litre.
2. Indonesia:
•Uses backyard-type nurseries with elevated canvas or
concrete tanks (1-2 tonnes capacity).
•Stocking densities similar to Taiwan: >2,000 fry/litre.

March 5, 2025 Page 14

3. Philippines:
• Integrated nursery and grow-out facilities.
• Fry (wild-caught or hatchery-reared) acclimated in nursery
compartments (1/3 to 1/4 of the pond area).
• Stocking density: up to 1,000 fry/litre.
• Feed includes naturally grown 'lab-lab' (micro-benthic food),
supplemented with artificial feeds like rice bran, corn bran, and
stale bread as needed.
• Nursery rearing also occurs in hapa nets in brackish ponds,
lagoons, or freshwater lakes.
• Fry grow to 5-8 cm juveniles in 4-6 weeks, with survival rates of
70%.
• Fingerlings are transitioned to grow-out tanks at 30-40 g
depending on the desired stocking size.
March 5, 2025 Page 15
Ongrowing techniques
Pond culture
Shallow water culture is practiced mainly in Indonesia and
the Philippines. Milkfish are traditionally cultured in shallow
Brackish water ponds in which the growth of benthic algae is
encouraged through inorganic or organic fertilization. Milkfish
will survive on benthic algae alone only if the productivity of
the algae exceeds the grazing rate of the fish; otherwise,
supplemental commercial feeds are applied. The 'lab-lab'
culture system in the Philippines is equivalent to shallow water
culture in Taiwan Province of China. 'Lab-lab' is the term used
in this country for the algal mat (and all micro-organisms
associated with it) in the ongrowing ponds.
March 5, 2025 Page 16
 Brackish water ponds in the Philippines were mostly
excavated from 'nipa' and mangrove areas. Shallow
water pond design generally consists of several nursery
and production ponds with a typical area of 2 000 m² for
nursery ponds and 4 ha for production (ongrowing)
ponds. Typically, ponds have a depth of 30-40 cm and are
provided with independent water supplies.
The average yield of a typical integrated nursery,
transition and shallow grow-out system that produces 3
crops a year is 800 kg/ha. Modified modular pond designs
consisting of a series of grow-out compartments with a
maximum of eight crops a year have been shown to
increase yield to a high as 2 000 kg/ha.
March 5, 2025 Page 17
 Deep water culture was developed in the mid 1970s in response to the
decline of profitability of shallow water culture, and the limited and
increasing value of land and manpower resources. Deep-water ponds
provide a more stable environment and extend the grow-out period into the
winter season. Most deep-water milkfish ponds have been created by
converting either shallow water ponds or freshwater ponds, with a depth of
2-3 m. Production from these systems has sharply increased in Taiwan
Province of China, having expanded from 23 percent of the total production
in 1981 to 75 percent in 1990.

Most milkfish ponds in the Philippines and Indonesia are of the

extensive and semi-intensive type, with large shallow pond units, tidal water
exchange, natural food, minimal use of fertilizer alternating with commercial
feeds and other inputs, and low to medium stocking rates
(50 000-100 000/ha). The Taiwanese method of production, on the other
hand, employs intensive stocking densities (150 000-200 000/ha). Few
diseases or infestations have been recorded so far in milkfish grow-out
farming in these Asian countries.
March 5, 2025 Page 18
Pen culture

This system was introduced in the Philippines in 1979 in the Laguna

Lake. At that time, the lake had a very high primary productivity, which
met the nutritional needs of milkfish. Because of the low rate of input and
the high rate of return, the pen culture area increased sharply from 1973
to 1983, and exceeded more than 50 percent of the total lake surface,
which is 90 000 ha. As the primary production of the lake could not meet
this sudden expansion of aquaculture, and feeding became necessary to
meet the nutritional requirements of the cultured fish, the pen culture
practices developed in lakes were later introduced into inter-tidal areas in
the Philippines along coves and river estuaries as well. Pen operators
stock fingerlings at 30 000-35 000/ha and provide supplemental
commercial diets. However, disease spreads among culture pens and
causes mass mortality. Government regulations are now being considered
to maintain sustainable yields from this type of farming.

March 5, 2025 Page 19

Cage culture

Fish cages are smaller and more restricted

enclosures that can be staked in shallow waters
or set-up in deep water with appropriate floats
and anchors. Cage farming of milkfish is
commonly carried out in marine waters along
coastal bays. Stocking rates (in the Philippines)
are quite high, from 5 up to 30/m³.

March 5, 2025 Page 20

Feed supply
In the past, traditional feeding practices for milkfish grow-out
production have consisted of natural food ('lab-lab') or a
combination of phytoplankton and macroalgae (Enteromorpha
intestinales, Cladophora spp. or Chaetomorpha linnum)
encouraged by fertilization. In the 1980s however, special
commercial feeds for milkfish were developed and became almost
exclusively used. As cage and pen culture technology proliferated
in the 1990s, both in marine and inland waters, extruded milkfish
feeds were further developed into floating and semi-floating
forms, while sinking forms were used for pond and tank-based
grow-out. Feed supplies are now manufactured commercially in
the form of starters, growers and finishers, which are administered
according to the production stage of the milkfish.

March 5, 2025 Page 21

Harvesting techniques
1. Partial harvest. Selective harvest of uniformly grown milkfish
from grow-out facilities (i.e. cages, pens, ponds, tanks) using seine
or gillnets, retaining the undersize fish and harvesting only the
commercial sized stocks, with an average body weight of 250 g or
larger.
2. Total harvest. Complete harvest in one crop period from grow-out
facilities (i.e. total draining of ponds by gravity or pump, hauling of
the entire net cage structure, seining or the use of gillnets in pens).
The harvest size at this stage may vary from 250-500 g.
3. Forced harvest. Emergency harvesting, regardless of fish size or
grow-out stage, which is carried out during 'fish kills' due to oxygen
depletions that are attributed to algal blooms, red tide occurrence,
pollution or other environmental causes.

March 5, 2025 Page 22

Handling and processing
200-400 g milkfish are harvested and marketed mostly fresh or
chilled, whole or deboned, frozen, or processed (e.g. fresh frozen
deboned, fresh frozen deboned descaled, and smoked fish deboned).
In general, all marketed milkfish are produced in farms, only a few
being caught from natural waters. In some countries (e.g. the
Philippines) fishing for adult milkfish is officially banned in order to
protect the natural broodstocks.

There are two known post-harvest processing techniques for

milkfish, which are the traditional (i.e. drying, fermentation and
smoking) or non-traditional methods (i.e. bottling, canning and
freezing) and value-added products such as 'surimi' and deboned
products as practiced in Taiwan Province of China and in the
Philippines.
March 5, 2025 Page 23
Regulations and standard protocols for
manufacturing milkfish products exist for both
domestic consumption and export, as follows:

• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). Plant

construction.
• Personnel hygiene and sanitation.
• Standard Sanitary Operating Procedures (SSOPs).
• HACCP compliance.

March 5, 2025 Page 24

Production costs
Milkfish farming is a centuries-old industry in
Indonesia, Taiwan Province of China and the Philippines. It
has been slow to modernize and now faces challenges from
competing aquaculture species and current economic
realities. The domestic market is large and the export market
has globally expanded. Milkfish price and personal income
affect the amount of milkfish consumed in the countries of
origin. Studies conducted in Taiwan Province of China and
the Philippines concluded that price and income had a
negative and positive elasticity coefficient, respectively.

March 5, 2025 Page 25

The following are the major determining factors affecting the cost
of production in milkfish:

• Type of culture system: costs are lowest in systems dependent only on

natural food; costs increase as artificial feed is introduced; costs are
highest in systems dependent totally on commercial feeds.
• Increasing production: with milkfish production steadily increasing and
culture practices becoming more intense, a big surplus of this commodity
is foreseen in the near future.
• Cost of feed: feeds account for 60 to 80 percent of the total production
cost.
• Low farm-gate prices: on average, the farm-gate price for milkfish is only
about USD 2.00/kg in the Philippines. As the supply of milkfish is expected
to increase way above demand, fish farmers cannot demand a higher
farm-gate price even though they may be spending heavily to cover
production costs.
• Lack of post-harvest facilities for value-adding and processing.
March 5, 2025 Page 26
Diseases
and
control
measure
s

Page March 5, 2025 27

Market and trade
Producers of milkfish do not usually sell fish directly to consumers, but supply
them through cooperatives, brokers, dealers, collectors or wholesalers, and retailers. In
general, the majority of fish products are sold in auction markets through dealers,
brokers, wholesalers or cooperatives to smaller dealers, and then retailers.

Increasingly, more of the milkfish harvest is processed into value-added forms:

smoked, dried, marinated (brined, sweetened), fermented with rice, and canned or
bottled in various styles (salmon style, sardine style, Spanish style, smoked in oil, etc.).
Some companies in the Philippines now produce frozen prime cuts of milkfish bellies
and backs, and even of heads and tails. Milkfish is exported in different product forms:
quick-frozen, dried, canned, smoked or marinated.

The Philippines recorded an export of over 17 040 kg of milkfish products to the

EU in 2002, valued at USD 58 000. While Taiwan Province of China concentrates on
processed and value-added products for export to the USA, Indonesia has
strengthened its export of hatchery-reared seedstock to the rest of the Asia-Pacific
region for tuna bait and for grow-out.

March 5, 2025 Page 28

Status and trends
Research and development
Successful induced spawning and larval rearing of milkfish
were first accomplished at SEAFDEC/AQD in 1976-1978. The first
generation cycle of milkfish in captivity was completed at AQD
when the offspring of a wild female induced to spawn in 1978 in
turn spawned in 1983. Since then, milkfish have matured and
spawned in floating cages, ponds, and concrete tanks in the
Philippines, Taiwan Province of China, Hawaii, and Indonesia. Since
the successful completion of larval rearing technology in 1984, fry
production has increased significantly, which has not only provided
milkfish farmers in Taiwan Province of China with ample supply but
also opened an export market to neighbouring countries.

March 5, 2025 Page 29

 To date no substantial technical and scientific research
has been documented from major milkfish producing
countries other than the policy and management related
research being conducted by the WorldFish Center, the
SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department and the Bureau of
Agricultural Research and BFAR of the Philippine Department
of Agriculture.

Taiwan Province of China, however, has recently

developed an improved strain of milkfish through selective
breeding process resulting in a golden coloured F1 pioneered
by a private farmer; this would accordingly command a better
price than the original silvery coloured strain, once introduced
in the market.
March 5, 2025 Page 30
Development perspectives

Based on current trends, production in the Philippines (which

has expanded its traditional land-based milkfish farming from
Brackish water fishponds to marine cages in coastal communities
through the establishments of mariculture parks) is expected to rise
from 289 000 tonnes in 2005 to 369 000 tonnes in 2010. Assuming
that the population of the Philippines reached 84 million by the year
2005, at per capita milkfish consumption of 2.5 kg/yr the total
milkfish requirement would reach 210 000 tonnes. With the actual
milkfish production recorded as of 289 000 tonnes in 2005, there
would have been an estimated supply surplus of 79 000 tonnes.In
Indonesia backyard hatchery production of milkfish seeds has
become a rural industry at the village level. The majority of these
hatcheries have further shifted to fry production of high-value species
of marine finfish.
March 5, 2025 Page 31
Market perspectives
Marketing of milkfish products contribute a lot to the sustainability
of the industry in the major milkfish producing countries - Indonesia
with its seed production exports, Taiwan Province of China with value-
added milkfish products and the Philippines with whole fresh and
processed products both for domestic and export markets.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GATT/WTO impositions

of trade restrictions and the EU/US bio-safety and quality control
standards are considerably affecting the producing countries and are
foreseen to be an added burden among production costs.

Although HACCP from farm to product processing are now strictly

observed (for both domestic and export markets) in the major producing
countries, farmers and processors view this as another trade barrier
that has been set by the importing industrialized countries.

March 5, 2025 Page 32

Main issues:
• Producers and consumers have benefited from new technology; however, broodstock
technology is still unreliable and fry supply is not fully controlled.
• Milkfish will remain a traditional foodfish in the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan Province of
China; however, the younger generation tends to avoid eating milkfish because of their bony
flesh; thus new markets will be difficult to create.
• High land values and the relatively low value of milkfish mean that farmers will have to
introduce new technology to increase unit productivity.
• Milkfish aquaculture will no longer rely only on natural productivity; the use of formulated
feed will become the norm.
• More hatcheries, especially in Indonesia and Taiwan Province of China, are expected to come
on-stream. This, and improved spawning technology, is expected to decrease fry costs.
• New product forms need to be developed, advertised and marketed.
• As mass production of milkfish fry in hatcheries expands, more fingerlings will become
available for the baitfish industry.
• Further research and development on the marketing and processing of milkfish is desirable.

March 5, 2025 Page 33

Responsible aquaculture practices
Due to global market demand, major milkfish producing
countries have recently been promoting management practices
that address food quality and safety issues. At the farm level for
example, the Philippines complies with the minimum aquaculture
HACCP requirements, from hatchery production to harvest,
before milkfish products are processed for export. Taiwan
Province of China has introduced product eco-labelling in order to
export quality branded processed milkfish products, while
Indonesia ensures the quality of milkfish fry when exporting to
neighbouring Asian countries and accompanies them with health
certificates. Traceability in the use of antibiotics and unregulated
drugs is already strictly imposed in these countries.

March 5, 2025 Page 34

References:
Agbayani, R. and Lopez, N.A. 1989. Economic analysis of an integrated milkfish
broodstock and hatchery operation as a public enterprise. Aquaculture,
99:235-248.
Ahmed, M., Magnayon-Umali, G.A., Valmonte-Santos, R.A., Toledo, J., Lopez, N.
and Torres, F.J. 2001. Bangus fry resource assessment in the Philippines.
ICLARM Technical Report, 58. 38 pp.
Anonymous. 1997. What is multi-species backyard hatchery technology?
Newsletter of the Gondol Research Station for Coastal Fisheries, Central
Research Institute of Fisheries, 3:1-8.
Bagarinao, T.U. 1991. Biology of milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsskal).
Aquaculture Department Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center,
Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines. 94 pp.
Bagarinao, T.U. 1999. Ecology and farming of milkfish. SEAFDEC Aquaculture
Department, Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines. 171 pp.
March 5, 2025 Page 35
Baliao, D.D., de los Santos, M.A. and Franco, N.M. 1999. The modular method:
milkfish pond culture. Aquaculture Extension Manual No. 25. SEAFDEC Aquaculture
Department, Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines. 128 pp.

Chang, S.L., Su, M.S. and Liao, I.C. 1993. Milkfish fry production in Taiwan.
Tungkang Marine Laboratory Conference Proceedings, 3:157-171.

Corre, V.L. Jr., Janeo, R.L., Dureza, V.A. and Edra, R.B. 2001. Milkfish broodstock
management and fry production in tanks. Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine
Research and Development, Los Baños, Laguna and University of the Philippines in
the Visayas, Miag-ao, Iloilo, Philippines. 38 pp.
Gordon S.M. and Hong, L.-Q. 1986. Biology. In: C.-S. Lee, M.S. Gordon & W.O.
Watanabe (eds.), Aquaculture of milkfish (Chanos chanos): state of the art. The
Oceanic Institute. Makapuu Point, Waimanalo, Hawaii 96795, USA. 284 pp.
Israel, D. C. 2000. The milkfish broodstock-hatchery research and development
program and industry: a policy study. Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Makati
March City,
5, 2025Philippines. 63 pp. Page 36
Kumagai, S., Bagarinao, T. and Unggui, A. 1980. A study on the milkfish fry fishing
gears in Panay Island, Philippines. SEAFDEC Technical Report, 6:1-34.

Lee, C-S. 1995. Aquaculture of milkfish. Tungkang Marine Laboratory Aquaculture

Series, 1:57-83.

Lopez, N.A., Vicaldo, Ma. V. and Fadriquela, J. 1986. The Philippine National Bangus
Breeding Program. In: J.L. Maclean, L.B. Dizon & L.V. Hosillos (eds.), Proceedings of
the First Asian Fisheries Forum, 13-15 May 1986, pp. 76-78. Asian Fisheries Society,
Manila, Philippines.

Schuster, W.H. 1960: Synopsis of biological data on milkfish Chanos

chanos (Forsskal, 1775). FAO Fisheries Biology Synopsis, 4. 60 pp.

Villaluz, A.C., Villaver, W.R. and Salde, R.J. 1982. Milkfish fry and fingerling industry
of the Philippines: methods and practices. SEAFDEC Technical Report, 9. 84 pp.
March 5, 2025 Page 37
Thank you for listening!

March 5, 2025 Page 38

Quiz no. 3

March 5, 2025 Page 39

1. What is the scientific name of milkfish?
a) Chanos chanos
b) Tilapia nilotica
c) Pangasius hypophthalmus
d) Clarias batrachus

2. In which three countries did milkfish farming originate?

b) China, Japan, and Vietnam
b) Indonesia, Taiwan Province of China, and the Philippines
c) Malaysia, India, and Thailand
d) South Korea, Myanmar, and Brunei

March 5, 2025 Page 40

3. What type of habitat do adult milkfish primarily inhabit?
a) Freshwater lakes and rivers
b) Open ocean
c) Coastal waters, coral reefs, and islands
d) Deep-sea trenches

4. At what age do milkfish typically reach sexual maturity?

b) 1 year
b) 3 years
c) 5 years
d) 7 years
March 5, 2025 Page 41
5. What is the maximum recorded size of a male milkfish?
a) 120 cm
b) 150 cm
c) 180 cm
d) 200 cm

6. What environmental factor triggers milkfish spawning?

b) Water temperature
b) Moon phases (new or full moon)
c) Salinity changes
d) Wind direction

March 5, 2025 Page 42

7. What are the two main sources of milkfish fry?
a) Hatcheries and rivers
b) Wild fry and captive fry
c) Ponds and estuaries
d) Aquaculture farms and fish markets

8. What is the common term for the naturally grown micro-benthic food
used in Philippine milkfish farming?
b) Phytoplankton
b) Zooplankton
c) Lab-lab
d) Periphyton 9
March 5, 2025 Page 43
9. What is the primary method of breeding milkfish in captivity?
a) Artificial insemination
b) Hormonal injection
c) Natural spawning in controlled environments
d) Genetic modification

10. What is one main challenge faced by traditional milkfish farming due to
fry availability?
b) High mortality rates in ponds
b) Predation by larger fish
c) Unpredictable regional, seasonal, and annual variations in fry supply
d) Overcrowding in hatcheries

March 5, 2025 Page 44

11. What is the main diet of juvenile milkfish?
a) Algae
b) Small fish
c) Zooplankton
d) Detritus

12. Which Asian country has developed an improved strain of golden-

colored milkfish?
b) Indonesia
b) Taiwan Province of China
c) Philippines
d) Thailand
March 5, 2025 Page 45
13. What is the most common method used to harvest milkfish in grow-out
facilities?
a) Total harvest
b) Net trapping
c) Partial harvest
d) Line fishing

14. What is the major cost factor in milkfish farming, accounting for 60–80% of
total production costs?
b) Feed costs
b) Labor wages
c) Pond maintenance
d) Equipment and gear

March 5, 2025 Page 46

15. What international trade agreement imposes
restrictions affecting the milkfish industry?
a) ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA)
b) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
c) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World
Trade Organization (WTO)
d) Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

March 5, 2025 Page 47

Answers:
1. a
2. b
3. c
4. c
5. c
6. b
7. b
8. c
9. c
10. c
11. c
12. b
13. c
14. a
15. c

March 5, 2025 Page 48