Oriental Mindoro to boost mud crab export

MANILA, Philippines - A P.5-million community farmers’ program in Oriental Mindoro seeks to propagate a giant Zamboanga-native mud crab species, which potentially raise the country’s $60 million mud crab export.

Roberto Abrera, manager of the MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) Regional Fisheries Research and Development Center of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR),  said they are looking at stocking gravid (pregnant) crabs in mangrove areas, adopting the sea ranching concept from the harvest in January.

The BFAR official noted that after a year of field trial, a Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) project for the giant mud crab achieved successful survival in Oriental Mindoro. The crabs grew to a weight of 350 grams per piece or three pieces in a kilo, making it attractive for the export market.

A sought after gourmet seafood, mud crabs – especially females that have aligue or fat– are exported to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Japan. The country produced 15,730 metric tons of mud crab in 2011.

Mud crabs can yield 1,200 kilos per hectare per cropping of five months. At P400 per kilo, it can give an additional income to farmers of P480,000 for cropping or P960,000 or two croppings a year.

Growing mud crabs and other fish is envisioned to be a major agriculture program since the Philippines is among world’s biggest fishery producers. In 2006, the country ranked sixth among global producers with total production of 5.08 million metric tons of fish, crustaceans (including mud crabs), and mollusks (shellfish).

The program’s second phase will involve natural cross-breeding of the giant mud crab with native mud crabs in Oriental Mindoro to assure their long-term survival and increased population.

The cross-breeding between the giant mud crabs from Zamboanga Sibugay and the native crab of Mindoro is necessary in order to ensure sustainability in a full life cycle production, according to Daisy Ladra, a BFAR mud crab specialist.

Aside from the mud crab project, Abrera said bangus is another possible fish commodity that is hoped to become an important food business in Mindoro under a similar CPAR program.

The CPAR program in Oriental Mindoro was inspired by the success of a 93-hectare CPAR program in Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro. The Santacati Small Fishpond Farmers’ Multi-purpose Cooperative now grow milkfish and crab in a formerly unproductive area.

Partnering in the mud crab project are some 100 members of the Farmers Organization for the Rural Upliftment of Mindoro (FORUM). Members provide the fishpond and labor, while government provides technical assistance and inputs such as crablets and feeds.