The Aquaculture Practices of Fishpond Lease Agreement (FLA) Milkfish Operators and their Annual Level of production in the Municipality of Dumangas 

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of the study was to determine and describe the aquaculture practices and the annual level of production of the FLA milkfish operators in the municipality of Dumangas province of Iloilo. This study covered all the 50 Milkfish FLA (Fishpond Lease Agreement holders). The instrument used to gather data was an assisted written questionnaire. The data were tabulated, analyzed and interpret using the SPSS or the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software. Frequency distributed and mean were used to analyze data. Majority of the respondents or 56 percent use brackish water and 44 use seawater in their operation. More than half (54 percent) use the tidal system, 42 percent use both mechanical pumps and tidal system and only 4 percent of the respondents purely uses the mechanical pumping method in supplying water in their ponds. On the average, the FLA operator are maintaining an average of 22.44 cm in water level and is better compared to the national average of 19 cm. (SEAFDEC) That the average stocking rate is 2,640 fish per hectare per crop. A little less than a third or 30 percent of the respondents have a stocking rate of more than 3,000 fish per hectare per crop. 28 percent stock between 1501 to 2000 fish per hectare per crop, another 28 percent stock between 2,001 to 2,500 fish per crop, only 10 percent of the respondents stock between 2501 to 3000 thousand pieces. More than half of the respondents or 56 percent use inorganic fertilizer and only 36 percent combines both. Only 8% uses pure organic fertilizer. A fifth or 20 percent was able to produce more than 1500 kilos. Less than 25 percent has a production rate of 1000 kilos or less of milkfish per hectare per year. Based on the facts shown in the study, the researcher can conclude that the FLA operators in Dumangas are better off compared to the result of the national survey that was done regarding the cultural practices and the volume of production noted in the related literature by Oscar V. Arteza of SEAFDEC. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement. There are areas in the study that, if given the right attention, will improve production and will greatly benefit the FLA operators and the private operators in the municipality of Dumangas.