By Gregg Yan
FISHKEEPING is part art, part science. The world’s most popular hobby after photography. It comes in many forms—a prized Arowana gliding languidly in the aquarium, goldfish tormented by a three-year-old, jewel-like tetras cruising atop a lavish emerald aquascape. Globally valued at $15 billion and growing by 14 percent yearly, the ornamental-fish trade is aquaculture’s sunrise industry.
So why isn’t the Philippines farming ornamental fish?
250 times the price of tilapia
Practically all Filipino fish farms grow food fish like tilapia or bangus. Among aquaculture’s biggest hurdles is the prohibitive price of commercial feeds, which can be mitigated by farming high-value fish. While tilapia retails for P80 a kilo, ornamental fish can be sold for P20,000 a kilo. Gram for gram, they eat about the same amount of food.
Due to waning stocks, only 10 percent of ornamental freshwater fish are wild-caught—bold cichlids from the Great African Rift Lakes, striped angelfish from peat-filled Amazonia and so on. The rest are bred by the billions in ponds, pools and tanks. Two-thirds come from Asia, with Singapore supplying 25 percent of global demand.
The Philippines—a country blessed with vast freshwater resources, a tropical climate, talented labor, plus relatively serviceable air and seaports—is lagging behind its Asian neighbors.
Though it exports wild marine fish, it doesn’t export ornamental freshwater fish due to erratic production. Hopefully, this will change soon.
Tremendous profit
“There’s incredible potential for the Philippines to become a leading ornamental-fish exporter.
Our climate is perfect because we don’t have snow or extreme cold weather. Fish can breed all year round,” Aqua Design Amano President Justin Uy explains. “Our expertise at raising tilapia or bangus can be applied to breed tropical fish. This will reap larger profits for our hardworking farmers.”
Whereas the investment and risk for traditional aquaculture is sizable, breeding and rearing ornamental freshwater fish like guppies, goldfish and koi can be done either on a commercial scale or as a cottage industry. Minimal investments, like small ponds or aquaria, make it ideal for households looking to augment income. “Two of my Auratus [a small cichlid similar to tilapia] produced 25 fry three months ago. If I sell all of them at P100, I’ll earn P2,500—equivalent to 31 kilos of tilapia!” hobbyist Joey Rosal shares. Done on a commercial scale and provided that fish are export-grade, profits can clearly be tremendous. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is promoting ornamental-fish farms, providing free broodstock, feeds and training for interested farmers.
“We’re paving the way for this relatively new industry,” BFAR Calabarzon Center Chief Lea Villanueva says. “If other Asian nations can do it, so can the Philippines.”
Watching out for invasive species
Ornamental fish farming must be done very carefully, owing to the risk of farming foreign species. Almost 50 invasive fish species now inhabit Philippine waterways. Armored janitor fish were introduced by well-meaning aquarists. Voracious knifefish now prey on Laguna Lake’s indigenous species.
Guppies imported a century ago to combat malaria are now omnipresent. Invasive fish can overpower native species, so special care must be taken to ensure foreign populations never take hold.
Aquaculture can also leach out nutrients to waterways to spur algal blooms. Particulate or dissolved materials—rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon—fuel planktonic explosions which rob water of oxygen, extinguishing life.
But countries which have done it successfully are reaping rewards. Malaysia’s trade was valued at P620 million in 1995, while Thailand’s exports rake in P2.2 billion yearly.
Properly honed, the Philippine ornamental freshwater fish trade can spur rural development and improve Filipino lives. The Best Alternatives Campaign, a movement which promotes sustainable alternatives to dwindling seafood, marine fish and curio products, encourages the responsible development of ornamental fish farms. Finding Nemo said it best: “Fish are friends, not just food.”
With strong public- and private-sector support, the Philippines might finally export world-class fish and enter the global ornamental-fish arena—with fins flared, of course.
To learn more about the Best Alternatives Campaign, plus emerging trends in the aquaculture industry, the sixth Aquaculture Expo and Convention will provide information on May 28 and 29 at Summit Ridge Hotel in Tagaytay City.
Environmentalist Gregg Yan is a proponent of the Best Alternatives Campaign, which aims to help transform the seafood, aquarium and curio trades by offering more sustainable (and ultimately more profitable) alternatives to endangered seafood, aquarium fish, corals and seashells.
Image credits: Aqua Design Amano Philippines