TLE - 15 LEARNING MODULE

Sector: AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIESS

Subject Code: TLE - 15

Subject Description: Fishery

Module Title: Aquaculture and Fish Processing

DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE INCORPORATED

Juan dela Cruz St.Toril, Davao City (Tel.No. 291-1882)
 Lesson One INTRODUCTION TO FISHERY

Learning Objectives:
After reading this information sheet, you MUST be able to:

1. Explain the concepts of fishery;

2. Discuss the morphology of fish - its parts and functions;
3. Dissect and identify the external parts of fish;
4. Dissect, identify and state the functions of internal parts of the fish;
5. Distinguish the possibility of culturing, preserving and marketing of fish;
and
6. Differentiate the three branches of fishery arts.

This module will introduce you to the exploratory aspects of Fish Culture,
Capture and Processing technology. It explains the different areas covered by
Fishery I; namely, Fish Morphology, Fish Culture, Fish Capture and Fish
Preservation. Fish, as the major product will be discussed first in this module.
You will be given information on the morphology of fishes; fishery as a business;
and the three branches of fishery including technical terms encountered in the
study of fishery for further understanding of the topic.

You will also be given insights into what you could learn in this module. In this
process, you would be able to decide on which area of fishery arts you would
specialize in so you can participate in any fishery programs of the government
and promote economic progress of the community and the country.

Fish culture, as an aspect of aquaculture, is one of the answers to the pressing

needs of increasing food production. As a subsidiary of aquaculture it deals with
the cultivation of fishes in ponds and in other aquaculture facilities, such as
cages, fish pens, tanks, raceways and rice paddies. Since many freshwater and
brackish water species are cultured in ponds, it is the concern of this lesson to
study fish and its parts with corresponding functions.

Fish is a cold-blooded vertebrate living in water, breathing by means of gills;

whose body may or may not be covered with scales. In general, it includes all the
fin fishes and other aquatic animals such as crustaceans, (crabs, prawns,
shrimps, lobsters) and mollusk (clams, mussels, oysters, snails and shellfishes).

Based on the fossils recovered five million years ago, there was no distinguishing
feature of a fish. The primitive fish belongs to ostracoderms, which has a mouth

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just a small opening, and the placoderms to which our present day bony fish
belong.

Fish is a business for it is a source of income, food and livelihood if it can be

cultured for commercial purposes and marketed properly.

Fishery is the business of catching, handling, taking, marketing and preserving

of fish and other fishery products.

Branches of Fishery:

1. Fish Culture - the human effort of raising the maximum productivity of

fish and other fishery aquatic products and maintaining the supply of
these products to satisfy human needs.
2. Fish Capture - branch of fishery science that deals with the scientific
method of catching fish as well and the type of fishing gear used.
3. Fish Preservation - branch of fishery science that deals with the
scientific method of preserving fish and other fishery aquatic products to
prevent spoilage.

Ichthyology - the science that deals with the study of fishes

Ichthyologists - scientists or persons who study fishes

External Parts of the Fish and Their Functions:

1. Operculum/gill cover - part of the fish that covers the gills

2. Scales - part of the fish that cover the body
3. Lateral lines - lines along the body of the fish used to
4. Fins - part of the fish that used for swimming, balancing and
propelling in water
5. Eyes - part of the fish that used for seeing
6. Mouth - part of the fish that used for swallowing objects,
particularly food
7. Anus - part of the fish that serves as an excretory organ of the fish
where the waste matter
8. Caudal Peduncle - part of the fish that connect the body and the tail
9. Nostril - part of the fish that used for smelling

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 EXTERNAL ANATOMY

Internal Parts of Fish and their Functions:

1. Spine – the primary structural framework upon which the fish’s body is
built. It connects to the skull at the front of the fish and the tail at the
rear. The spine is made up of numerous vertebrae, which are hollow and
which protect the delicate spinal cord.
2. Spinal cord – the part that connects the brain to the rest of the body and
relays sensory information from the body to the brain, as well as instruction
from the brain to the rest of the body.
3. Brain – the control center of the fish where both automatic functions and
higher behaviors occur. All sensory information is processed here.
4. Lateral line – one of the fish’s primary sense organs. It detects underwater
vibration and is capable of determining the direction of their source.
5. Swim or air bladder – a hollow, gas-filled balance organ that allows a fish
to conserve energy by maintaining neutral bouyancy in water.
6. Kidney – filters liquid waste materials from the blood. These waste are then
passed out the body.
7. Stomach and intestines – break down food and absorb nutrients.
8. Pyloric caeca – finger like projection located near the functions of the
stomach and the Intestine. It known to secrete enzymes that aid
digestion. It may also function to absorb digested food or do both.
9. Liver – it assists digestion by secreting enzymes that break down fats, and
also serves as storage area for fats and carbohydrates.
10. Heart – circulates blood throughout the body.

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 11. Muscle – provide movement and locomotion. These are parts of the
fish that are usually eaten. They compose the fillet of the fish.
12. Gonad - hormone-secreting sexual gland of a fish.

Fish Scales Tell the Age of a Fish

Look at the image of the fish scale. Like a tree, scales show rings that indicate
periods of growth. Rings that are farther apart occur when the fish grows well and
there is a lot of food in the summer season. Rings that are close together occur
when the fish does not get much food and grows slowly. On the scale you can
identify the summer growth and the winter growth. (There will be several rings in
each).

The core represents the fish when it was first born, as a fry. The rings near the
edge are the most recent periods of growth.

Types of Fish Scales

1. Placoid - it resembles a miniature tooth called denticles. Ex. shark scales

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 2. Cycloid - it is oval or circular in outline and have a smooth and exposed
rear edge.

3. Ctenoid - scales that have a rear edges made of small brush- like spines or
comb liked teeth. Ex. Scales of perch, pongies and bass

4. Ganoid - a four- sided plate that fits closely against adjacent plates without
overlapping

Parts of Gills
1. Gill filament - used for exchange of gases such as oxygen and carbon
dioxide.
2. Gill arch - used for support and for passing blood to and the gill filaments.
3. Gill rakers - used for straining food from the water.

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Fish Culture

Many programs and activities had been done in response to the problems
regarding the shortage of the supply of fish in the country. One of which these
program is Fish Culture. Fish culture then must be introduced to enhance
awareness and adopt some of the technology and its adoption as additional
source of food and income.

Phases or Aspects of Fish Culture:

1. Fish Cultivation - the rearing of fish under controlled or semi- controlled

condition

2. Fish Propagation - the process of increasing fish life either by natural or

artificial means of reproduction.

3. Fish Conservation - the scientific means of utilizing fish and other fishery
aquatic products/resources.

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Classification of Fish Culture

1. According to extent of financial investment

a. Intensive - utilizes limited area with very high investment
b. Extensive - utilizes wide area with minimal capital and very low
production
c. Semi-intensive - employ some or the majority of the modern techniques
of production
2. According to purpose
a. for commerce or for business
b. for recreation or for enjoyment
c. for educational and cultural or scientific pursuit
d. for food production
3. According to design
a. natural pond
b. artificial pond
4. According to state of water
a. still water
b. running water
5. According to salinity
a. Freshwater
b. brackish-water
c. marine or saltwater
6. According to temperature
a. Warm water or hot water
b. Cold water
7. According to species raised
a. Freshwater species
b. Brackish-water species
c. Marine or saltwater species

Terminologies used in the study of Fish Culture

1. Endemic or indigenous - native to the locality

2. Exotic or digenous - introduced by other countries
3. Habitat - the place where plants and animals grow and naturally live
4. Herbivorous - species of fish that feed on plants and vegetables only
5. Carnivorous - species of fish that feed on other animals
6. Omnivorous - species of fish that feed on both plants and animals
7. Tide - the periodic rise and fall of seawater
8. Milt - the male reproductive gland of fishes
9. pH - the hydrogen ion-concentration of water
10. Photosynthesis - the process by which plants manufacture their
food with the aid of sunlight

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 11. Predators - species of fish feeding on other fishes specially the
cultivable ones
12. Prolific - the process of producing young in great numbers
13. Sabalo - the bangus breeder or spawner
14. Salinity - the degree of freshness and saltiness of water
15. Temperature - the degree of coldness and hotness of water
16. Competition - the rivalry for food, space and oxygen inside the
fishpond
17. Cannibalistic - species of fish that feed on their own kind
18. Plankton - the biological association of minute plants and
animals which are found growing on the surface of the water.
19. Spat - the larvae of oyster and mussel which are free swimming
in water.
20. Catadromous - species of fish that go down from freshwater to
saltwater to spawn ex: eels
21. Anadromous - species of fish that go upstream from salt water
to freshwater to spawn ex: bangus
22. Oviparous - species of fish whose eggs are fertilized and developed
outside the body ex: tilapia
23. Viviparous - species of fish that bring forth living young which
during their early development receive nourishment from their mother
fish
24. Ovoviviparous - species of fish whose eggs are fertilized and
developed within the body but the young when born alive do not receive
nourishment from the mother fish
25. Food chain - the linear relationship of undergoing the process of
eating and being eaten.
26. Scavenger - species of fish that feed on decaying organic matter
27. Lab-lab - the vernacular term for all the greenish, brownish or
yellowish crust of micro benthic fauna and flora, which are found growing
in matrix or mat at the pond floor.
28. Fecundity - the number of eggs laid by a female fish in one
spawning.

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 29. Standing crop - the total number of fish stocked at a given area at a
given time.
30. Biomas - the total weight of the animal in the given environment.

Compartments of a Fishpond and Functions

1. Nursery pond - the smallest and the cleanest compartment where fish are
reared from fry up to pre- fingerling size
2. Transition pond - a compartment where fish are reared from pre- fingerling
size to post fingerling size before stocking them in to other larger
compartments, it is also known as stunting pond.
3. Rearing pond - the largest compartment of a fishpond where fishes are
reared from post fingerlings up to marketable size
4. Breeding pond - a compartment where spawners are confined and are used
purposely for the production of fry.
5. Catching pond - an area that serves as catchment basin for fish harvest.
6. Head pond - an area that serves as water reservoir where water is stored
before going to other pond compartments.
7. Water supply canal - canal used to supply water throughout the whole
fish pond system.

Species of fish that are commonly cultured in ponds:

I. Native or Indigenous
Local Names Picture English Scientific
Names Names

Mudfish or Ophicephalus
Dalag
murrel striatus
snakehead fish

Freshwater
Hito
catfish Clarias batrachus

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 Climbing perch Anabas
Martiniko
testudinius

Biya
Goby Glossogobius
guirrus

Therapon/ Therapon
Ayungin
Silver perch plumbeus

Milk fish Chanos chanos

Bangus

II. Introduced or Exotic Fishes

Local Names English Scientific
Names Names

Karpa Common carp Cyprinus carpio

Tilapia Nile tilapia Oreochromis

niloticus
Tilapia Zill’s tilapia Tilapia zilli
Tilapia Java tilapia Oreotchromis
mossambicus

Gorami Giant gourami Osphronemous

gourami

Plasalid Plasalid Trichogaster

pectoralis

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 III. Crustaceans
Local Names English Names Scientific
Names

Alimango Mud crab Scylla

serrata

Alimasag Blue crab Neptunus

pelagicus

Sugpo Jumbo tiger prawn Penaeus

monodon

Common Enemies of Fish

1. Predators - fish and other animals that prey on the cultured species of
fish
2. Competitors - fish and other animals that compete with the cultured
species in terms of food, space and oxygen.
3. Nuisances - crustaceans and other animals that do a lot of damage to
the food and in the habitat of fish.

Natural Food of Fish in the Pond Picture

1. Plankton- small plants floating in

water

2. Lab-lab – a twining leguminous plant

3. Algae – are a very large and

diverse group of simple,
typically autotrophic
organisms, ranging from
unicellular to multicellular
forms, such as the giant kelps
that grow to 65 meters in length

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Characteristics of Fish that are Suitable for Pond Culture

1. Fish should be palatable and good tasting – the fish must have a delicate
flavor.
2. Fish must be a fast grower – the fish must be able to grow rapidly or can
give a possibility of four or more harvests a year.
3. Fish should be resistant to pests, diseases and parasites – the fish should
not succumb to abrupt changes in temperature or salinity and can
tolerate such conditions in all its existence.
4. Fish should be a universal feeder – the culture fish require food which can
be grown easily and abundantly under favorable conditions.
5. Fish should have high market demand – the fish must command a high
price to recover the expenses incurred.
6. Fish should not be destructive in confinement, either to its kind or to other
species or to its environment – the fish should be prolific which means that
reproduce very often to have a continuous supply of fry or stocks.

Other Fish Culture Facilities

1. Hapa - it is an unframed net tied to posts and principally used for

nursing fry and holding of breeder. It looks like an inverted mosquito net.

2. Fish cage - it is a framed net that is either fixed or mobile. Set in water
and surrounded with a bamboo raft and provided with an anchor at the
bottom. It is used for the culture of fish from fry to marketable size.

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 3. Fish pen - it is an enclosure of net or bamboo slats with sturdy posts
staked at the bottom of water and used for the culture of fish from fry to
marketable size.

4. Tank - it is a structure made of brick tile or concrete used for the purpose
of culturing fish from fry, to marketable size. It can also be used as a
breeding tank, or as conditioning tank for breeders.

5. Raceway – an enclosure of concrete soil or added materials generally in

the shape of the canal through which constant water flows. Fish are
raised in the raceway at high density and their waste products are carried
out by the water passing through the areas.

Task

Research on the evolution of fish and present your work to class.

1. Why is there a need to familiarize yourselves with the morphology of

fishes?

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 2. How can you differentiate the various phases of fish culture?
3. Explain why there is a need for you to be acquainted with the different
terminologies to be used in fish culture.
4. How are the types of fish culture classified and why?
5. How different compartments are divided based on specifications?

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 Lesson Two
Fish Capture

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you MUST be able to:

1. Explain the importance of knowing the classification of fishing gear

used in the Philippines,
2. Familiarize the learners with the simple construction and operation of
common fishing gear,
3. Teach the learners the proper ways of handling the fishing gear and
safety measures in the operation of the gear,
4. Help them identify the gear to be presented, and
5. Assist the learners to distinguish the possibility of marketing and
having a source of income from gear construction and operation.

Introduction

There are various fishing gear used in catching fish and other fish products and
different methods of construction and operation are involved. Some fishermen
and their relatives practice the different ways of constructing a gear to augment
family income.

Basic Classification of Philippine Fishing Methods and Gears, and Safety

Measures:

1. Fishing without gear – a method that is composed of the most simple forms
of gathering aquatic resources.

Example:
a. Hand picking
b. Diving

2. Stupefying methods - a method that depend on the psychological reaction

of fish to certain physical or chemical properties.

a. Mechanical stupefying
1. Hitting a fish directly with any object like stones, clubs, hammers
etc.
2. Hitting a submerged stone with another where fish is hiding.
3. Using of dynamite detonated by a blasting cap with a short fuse.
b. Fish poisoning

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 1. Using toxic plants like Derris or “Lagtang” (“Tubli” in Cebuanos)
whose coffee-like berries are toasted, crushed and pulverized and
sprinkled into the water as bait.
2. Using chemicals like Rotenon, Endrin, Cyanide, Burnt lime, Copper-
vitriol etc.
3. Using deoxygenation of the water by stirring up the mud in shallow
regions.

c. Electrical fishing

3.Fishing using miscellaneous hand or grappling instruments generally used for

gathering sessile or trapped animals (panikwat).

English Names Local Names

1. Shovels - pala
2. Tongs - sipit
3. Gafts - gantso
4. Hoes - panghukay
5. Rakes - kalaykay
6. Tweezers - pambunot
7. Dredges - pangahig
8. Scoops - panalok
9. Pokers - pangsundot
10. Picks - patik, piko
11. Scrapers - pangayod
12. Spades - pangdukal
13. Grabs - pandakut
14. Clamps - pang-ipit
15. Snares - Tagalog – panilo

4. Wounding Gear - gears used by man who to wound a fish from some
distance either by throwing pointed objects or using specials
equipment.
a. Spears, lances and arrows - instruments with pointed barbed or
barbless blades at the right straight tip which are not removable
from the handle and generally thrown by hand or sometimes from
a gun or bow-like device like pana, sibat, salapang or tiksal.

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 b. Harpoons - pointed instruments with barbed blades detachable
from the handle and either thrown by hand or discharged from a
gun, panibat, or pamaril.

5. Barriers and Traps - gears that lead the fish into a situation or
enclosure from which it cannot escape or from which the way of
escape is not easily located.

a. Barricades - complete barriers made of wooden trunks, debris,

mud, weeds, banana stalks, rocks or bamboo webbing built
across the natural migration path of fish.

b. Fish shelter - a structure made of anchored bunches of twigs

and bushes, piles of rocks or poles which become the hiding
place for fishes.

c. Fish coral - a guiding barrier constructed of bamboo, brush or

chicken wire which is set in tidal waters or along natural ways of
fishes.

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 d. Fish pots - basket-like enticing devices usually baited and made
of bamboo, chicken wire, rattan and other suitable materials.

6. Fishing with lines - method of line fishing with hooks that follows
the principle of offering the fish real or artificial bait which it tries to
catch.

7. Pole and line - handline attached to a pole (bingwit) used with

various kinds baits (baliwasnan or bingwit)

8. Longlines - extremely long lines with a large series of baited hooks

either set or drifting that requires only periodical attention at more
or less a fixed time intervals.

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 9. Trawls - nets in the form of a conical bag with the mouth kept open
by various devices and the entire gear is towed behind a moving boat.
(galadgad or taksay).

10. Beach seine - bayakos or pukot

11. Set gill nets - are nets that anchored or fixed – largarete
patuloy, palagiang paningahan.

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 Task

Visit a fishing village. Observe the different techniques and gear employed in
catching fishes and other aquatic resources.

1. Why is there a need to get acquainted with the different fishing gear used
in the Philippines?
2. How are these fishing gear classified?
3. If you were given a chance to go with a fisherman to fish what would you
do to have more catch and which of the gear would you recommend?
Why?
4. Do you think the kind of gear and the method of operation have a role in
a successful fishing operation? Why?

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