 COMMERCIAL VALUE... Kerapu or grouper has been chosen by Marine Fish Research and Breeding Centre at Tanjung Demong, Terengganu for its commercial viability. |
Many prefer the other fishes like aya (tuna), tamban (sardinella), tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), bawal (pomfret), selar kuning (yellow-banded scad) and selayang (round scad).
But the scenario is different now due to the increasing demand for the grouper, tipped to become the country's major commercially cage-reared marine fish by 2010.
Based on the kerapu's (Epinephelus) market potential, easy management of its breeding and the fish's suitability to Malaysia's climate, the Fisheries Department is embarking on a major project to mass-produce this commercial marine fish.
There are various species of kerapu. The spotted and banded type is called kerapu hijau (Epinephelus coioides).
The others are kerapu harimau (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus), kerapu pisang (Plectropomus leopardus), kerapu sunoh (Plectropomus maculatus) and kerapu tikus (Cromeleptis altivelis).
KERAPU KERTANG
The department has however picked kerapu kertang (Epinephelus lanceolatus) for its commercial breeding project at the Marine Fish Research and Breeding Centre (Pusat Penyelidikan dan Pembiakan Ikan Laut or PPPIL) at Tanjung Demong here in Terengganu as this fish is among those that have high commercial value.
The centre's head Hussin Mat Ali said PPPIL aimed to produce 122,000 tonnes of kerapu kertang by 2010.
To achieve this target, it has to produce 100 million grouper fry from 2,200 kerapu 'induk' or parent fish to be distributed to caged-fish breeders nationwide within this period.
"The grouper lives and survives anywhere in the world, and the kertang species is chosen as the fish incurs lower costs for caged-breeding compared witn the other grouper types", Hussin told Bernama recently.
Source: Bernama