© SEAFDEC
Snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii) is a high-value marine fish that thrives in both marine and brackish water. It’s a species that’s popular with fish farmers due to its ease of farming, but currently relies purely on expensive commercial diets if cultured.
The problem challenged Edgar Somblingo, a SEAFDEC/AQD researcher, to look for an alternative diet for pompano.
He noticed an abundance of Pirenella sp. in the earthen ponds of the Dumangas Brackishwater Station. The tiny snails are considered pests, but Somblingo thought they could be used as a diet for pompano, as they naturally eat molluscs such as clams and snails in the wild.
To find out more, he has set up a trial, with one group of pompano being given only commercial feed, while the other is fed a commercial diet supplemented with snails.
As SEAFDEC observe in a press release, if proven to be successful, fish farmers could benefit on two fronts: firstly, it could cut down the cost of pompano feed, while secondly the fish might act as a biological control for the snail population of ponds: reducing the need for chemical inputs, such as molluscicides, in pond culture operations.
