Thursday 15 September 2011

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Location We Chose & Extra Information


Locations: Brood stock Managementa Float-cage Fish Culture Farm on the straits of Johor
Extensive cage farming – Straits of Johor
Hatchery/nursery – this segment will be conducted at Lim Chu Kang Farmway
The place is big enough to hold Research and Development as well as a miniature half hectare nursery for the fishes to be more immune and enhance to combat different threats, for example, bacteria in the sea.
                  
Why –
As We said earlier, Singapore is a land-scarce country that needs land to be fully utilized. With this, aquacultures should not be on land. Although the benefits of fish farms being on land are that workers are more likely to be able to access these facilities which are meant to keep or breed these fishes. However, R & D will not be able to be done on sea. Thus, reducing the transportation time of fishes from the nursery and cage or float-cage farms will reduce more fatalities of new fine-tuned fishes during transportation.
After the fishes have grown up and are of respectable size to consume, a separate company will work hand to hand to sell these fishes to the processing industry as well as restaurants and other merchants.


Recommended Singapore diet - 
1. Eat a Variety of Foods using the Healthy Diet Pyramid as a Guide. 
2. Achieve and Maintain Body Weight Within the Normal Range. 
3. Eat Sufficient Amounts of Grains, especially Whole Grains. 
4. Eat More Fruit and Vegetables Every Day 
5. Choose and Prepare Food with Less Fat, especially Saturated Fat
6. Choose and Prepare Food with Less Salt and Sauces. 
7. Choose Beverages and Food with Less Sugar. 
8. If You Drink Alcoholic Beverages, Do So in Moderation

   

What Form Of Farming Are We Doing

There are four main types of agriculture:
Shifting cultivation
Wet rice cultivation
Plantation agriculture
High-technology farming
   


   We choose high-tech farming as Singapore is a land-scarce country and the other options would require a reasonably large plot of land to be carried out. Under aquaculture, also known as foodfish farming, there are a few types of ways in rearing fishes:
(1)   Brood stock management
Brood stock Management involves selective breeding of brood stocks comprising of different species of tropical marine foodfish. This segment is carried out at a Float-cage Fish Culture Farm on the straits of Johor.

   This places great emphasis on natural spawning and in maintaining superior breeds of broodstocks, thereby ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality fertilised fish eggs/hatchlings that can be successfully raised to maturity. The farm produces approximately 100-200 million fertilized eggs every month.

For example, Swee Chioh Aquaculture has successfully bred over 20 different species of foodfish in captivity.

Examples include:-
  • Golden Toothless Trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus)
  • Big-Eye Trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus)
  • Fourfinger Threadfin (Eleutheronema tetradactylum)
  • King Grouper (Promicrops lanceolatus)
  • Brown Marble Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus)
  • Greasy Grouper (Epinephelus coiodes)  
  • Polka-Dot Grouper (Cromileptis altivelis)
  • Black Kingfish (Ranchycentron canadus)
  • Emperor Snapper (Lutjanus sebae)
  • Red Snapper (Lutjanus erythropterus)
  • Golden Snapper (Lutjanus johnii)
  • Mangrove Red Snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus)
  • White-Spotted Snapper (Lutjanus stellatus)
  • Seabass (Lates calcarifer)
  • Spotted Croaker (Protonibea diacanthus)
  • Batfish (Platax orbicularis)
   New species of foodfish have been constantly introduced for captivity and/or as new potential spawners. R&D activities are vital to improve and refine skills in selective spawning.



(2) Hatchery & nursery
Hatchery/nursery operates over a farm location inland with the capacity to produce millions of fingerlings per year.

   Embarking on an ecological approach to its cultural methodologies, Aquacultures constantly fine-tune to ensure consistency in quantity and quality. Good husbandry practices and proper nutrition are keys in strengthening immune system in fish. Aquacultures also employ scientific methods to aid in understanding and identifying the unique larval dynamics, growth patterns and physiology/behaviour of different foodfish species so that the best nutrition and ecological environment can be emulated.

   Frys and fingerlings produced at hatchery/nursery facilities are assured to be of immunity-enhanced and premium grade, consistent in both quantity and quality. The major species produced include Red Snapper, Golden Snapper, Golden Toothless Trevally, Big-Eye Trevally, Tiger Grouper and Fourfinger Threadfin.



(3) Extensive cage farming
Example:
   Building on the success of the hatchery's production which led to the consistent supply of foodfish fingerlings, We suggest the Aquaculture should embark on its first phrase of 50-hectare extensive net-cage farming off Pulau Ubin with the intent to produce high quality table-sized foodfish to both local and overseas markets. The Aquaculture has decided to construct 2 offshore extensive float-cage farms located off Pulau Ubin which produce 200 tonnes of table-sized foodfish annually.

   Other than its own net-cage farming activities, the Aquaculture plans to successfully established 3 franchised offshore extensive cage farms located off Pulau Ubin. The entire business proposition is based on an outsourced fish farming franchised model which will be its first of its kind in the region. This model provides investors with the opportunity to invest and participate in the aquaculture industry with moderate capital.

   Together with its franchised investors, production is expected to be at 500 tonnes in year 2012 and to double or triple depending on the performance of the franchised farms.

What We Chose To Farm

   Since Singapore is a land-scarce country, We prefer to farm not on land, but on water. Singapore has high population density and by choosing to rear edible fishes in fish farms, it would not only reduce  the land space needed for other farming methods and housing, it allows more jobs to the people as well as less reliance on imports. 



   





   Even with limited available sea space, Singapore has a small but thriving and increasingly important foodfish industry. Singapore's consumption of fish is estimated to be 100,000 tonnes per year of which about 5% is accounted for by local foodfish aquaculture. This is mainly from coastal fish farms. They produce marine foodfish species like groupers, sea bass, snappers and milkfish as well as green mussels and crustacean (shrimp/mangrove crabs). There are also freshwater foodfish farms producing snakeheads, tilapia, catfishes and carps and other cyprinids.

AVA’s broad aim is also to increase local production of fish to 15 percent of consumption. On the larger view, the aim is to make sure Singapore is prepared when global markets get volatile.



   For example,

Swee Chioh Aquaculture Holding Pte Ltd

   Swee Chioh Aquaculture has garnered decades of experience in foodfish farming, broodstock management and eggs production to transformed itself into a group of knowledge-driven companies encompassing the following business segments:
(1) Broodstock management
(2) Hatchery & nursery
(3) Extensive cage farming
(4) Research & Development
 The group operates its hatchery/nursery operations over 2 different farm locations in Singapore (a 11-hectare farm at Loyang Agrotechnology Park and a 3-hectare farm at Neo Tiew Crescent) with the capacity to produce 10 million fingerlings per year. Swee Chioh Aquaculture has successfully bred 16 different species of foodfish in captivity. This segment of broodstock management activity, together with its extensive cage farming, is carried out at the floating netcage fish culture farms off Pulau Ubin. Swee Chioh works closely with Marine Aquaculture Centre (MAC) of Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority in its R & D efforts on fish spawning and culture techniques of different foodfish species.