Small-scale hatcheries and simple technologies for sandfish (Holothuria scabra) production

Sandfish (Holothuria scabra) hatchery production is currently being done at various scales across several continents including Australia, Maldives, Vietnam, Pacific island countries, Madagascar and the Philippines. Work in Mindanao in the southern Philippines, through the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin), commenced in 2006. UPMin set up experimental hatcheries, ponds and other facilities by establishing partnerships with two local corporations: Alsons Corporation and JV Ayala Group of Companies. The former facility also has a seawater channel feeding fish ponds, which, through time, has harboured resident populations of sandfish. This channel became a source of broodstock, as well as a ‘conditioning area’ for sandfish collected from the wild. It also served as the first-stage nursery for juveniles. This paper describes low-cost technology for all stages of culturing H. scabra up to production of juveniles ≥10 g for release, and compares the cost-cutting innovations with those of published protocols. Three local modifications made by the UPMin project team are described here: the use of a seawater channel for broodstock and hapa; mono-algal feeding using Chaetoceros calcitrans; and the use of recycled or locally made materials. Broodstock can be kept for weeks in the channel with zero mortality, even without maintenance. In the hapas, juveniles can grow to 5–10 g in 1–2 months at an average survival of 84%. Chaetoceros calcitrans was bought from Alsons and scaled up using recycled 250-L PVC barrels. It was used as a feed until the early juvenile stage. These innovations yielded a best performance average of 2.2% survival to 3–5-mm juveniles. This paper attests to the progress and innovations made in sea cucumber research in the Philippines since H. scabra production was pilot-tested in the country in 2002.