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A Filipino aquaculture practitioner in Central Visayas has
developed a technology which makes possible to transport live
fish and keep it alive, for several hours even without water,
enabling fish traders to bring in more fish and earn more profit
Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo said recently.
He said the technique, set to be officially introduced to
the public on June 8, extends a fish's survival without water
while in transit by virtually putting it into a deep sleep or
in "suspended animation' early on using certain procedures
and some liquid solutions, and later allowing it to recover from
unconsciousness and get back to life.
Lorenzo said the new technology presents itself as a better
alternative to the conventional practice of keeping fish alive
while on travel by putting it in a container with water, a method
not only inconvenient and cumbersome, but also entails considerable
costs.
"Let in be known in the fishing world that the Philippines
has now developed a technology for waterless transport of live
fish, a method that will revolutionize the way we normally handle
fish after harvest," he said.
Citing a report from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr., Lorenzo said the technology has
been developed by Bonifacio Comandante Jr, a private aquaculturist
from Dumaguete City, who is now working to get his work patented.
The new technology entails the fishes to be shipped, especially
if marine species, to undergo a conditioning process whereby
they are held overnight in filtered, circulated seawater at about
30 degrees Centigrade without feeding, after which they are transferred
to another tank filled with brackish water initially kept at
4 degrees C, then gradually allowed to reach 18 to 20 degrees
C.
An anti-stress conditioning cum acclimatizing then follows
by adding a mixture of a liquid solution called Buhi Blend
developed by Comandante, to the conditioning tank, and immersing
the fishes into it for minutes after which the stunned animals
are arranged in cooled (18 to 20 degrees C) Styropor boxes lined
with plastic bags.
Sarmiento said the bags are later filled with medical oxygen
and sealed for transport. The fishes are expected to regain consciousness
after about nine hours.
In recent test to determine if the technique works, groupers
(lapu lapu) delivered to the BFAR central office laboratory in
Quezon City from Iloilo using the "waterless technology"
were observed to regain consciousness after eight hours of travel,
with the temperature in the storage box at 25 degrees C, Sarmiento
said.
"The fishes were observed to be initially disoriented
but eventually recovered after acclimatization in aerated tap
water to which Biomix seawater formula has been added,"
he said.
While the waterless transport of live fish has been tried
by some traders before the technology presented by Comandante
has greater promise for use by live fish trades in the country,
Sarmiento told Lorenzo.
He said the "Buhi blend' developed by the inventor and
used as anti-stress solution needs further analysis to identify
its specific components as well as its safety for use in the
live transport of fish intended for human consumption.
So far, Sarmiento pointed out that initial findings, from
BFAR show there were no harmful substances found in the fish
species subjected to the waterless technology. |