Farming the high-value lapu-lapu

By Roberto Garcia

GROUPER, or locally known as lapu-lapu (takulit in Pangasinan), is one of the most sought-after fish because of its fine and tasty meat. The demand for this fish is steadily growing in live fish markets abroad, particularly in Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore as well as in local markets and restaurants.

Although the culture technology of lapu-lapu is pretty much developed nowadays, few have ventured into it probably because of lack of knowledge in culture technique, lack of capital, and most significantly, the lack of fingerlings.

The coastal water of Pangasinan is one of the major sources of wild grouper fry and fingerlings in the country. In Dagupan, the seasonal supply of the young groupers can be obtained from the Salapingao-Pugaro-Sabangan area. On the other hand, certain institutions have developed hatchery techniques to mass-produce grouper fry, but unfortunately it is not yet available in Pangasinan.

There are many species of grouper, but only two species are commonly cultured commercially: the orange spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides and the black-spotted grouper E. malabaricus.

Farming grouper can be done in net cages or in fishponds but proper site selection is critical for success. For cages, the waters must be deep enough but calm, of right salinity, and far from pollution sources. On the other hand, pond culture requires at least one-meter depth of brackish water with sufficient dissolved oxygen. For feed, the fish can be fed with chopped trashfish, live tilapia fingerlings, or waste from fish processing.

Grouper takes five to seven months of rearing to attain the marketable size of 400 to 800 grams. When harvested, the fish is maintained in live condition to get the best market price. The demand is year-round but the highest price is reached during Christmas season and the Chinese New Year.

Grouper culture has been proven to be commercially feasible in Sual, Anda and Bolinao in floating cages while there were attempts to rear them in brackish water ponds in San Fabian, Dagupan and Binmaley. Perhaps fish farmers should try farming the high value lapu-lapu to get a higher income compared to other species.

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