Chanos Chanos (FORSSKAL, 1775), FRY SEASONALITY in VANUATU: THEIR AVAILABILITY and ABUNDANCE in the COASTAL SHORELINE of EFATE ISLAND
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MILKFISH, Chanos chanos (FORSSKAL, 1775), FRY SEASONALITY IN VANUATU: THEIR AVAILABILITY AND ABUNDANCE IN THE COASTAL SHORELINE OF EFATE ISLAND By Ronnick Spenly Shedrack A Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Marine Science Copyright © 2017 by Ronick Spenly Shedrack School of Marine Studies Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment The University of the South Pacific November, 2017 Declaration of Originality Statement by Authoor I, Ronick Spenly Shedrack, declare that this thesis is my own workk and that, to the best of my knowledgee, it contains no material previously published, or substantially overlapping with matterial submitted for the award of any other degree at any institution, except whhere due acknowledgement is made in the textt. Signature: Date: 10 November 2017 Name: Ronick Spenlly Shedrack Student ID No: S11062153 Statement by Supervvisor The research in this thhesis was performed under my supervision annd to my knowledge is the solee work of Mr. Ronick Spenly Shedrack. Signature: Date: 20/11/22017 Name: Dr. Marta Feerriera Designation: Princippal Supervi Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my dear parents Belinda Toa Spenly and Spenly Shedrack Salemomo. iii Acknowledgements I express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the Australian Centre of Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for funding me for the Master of Science degree under the ACIAR-USP scholarship Scheme and to USP for facilitating the sponsorship and funding another 6-month for the write up until completion of the program. The completion of my thesis was made possible through the invaluable support from my principal supervisor, Dr. Marta Ferreira and co-supervisor, Dr. Susanna Piovano who provided constructive criticism, suggestion, comments and encouragement during the course of the study. Dr. Marta is also immeasurably valued for providing me with support to Otolith analysis technique that is necessary to complete the thesis. I also acknowledge Dr. Susanna for various constructive criticisms polishing this study. I express my appreciation to Mr. Sompert Gereva for his invaluable support, advice and assistance throughout the project with the field data collection, sampling materials and providing me space at the Vanuatu fisheries department to complete the thesis write up. Thanks are also extended to Dr. Timonthy Pickering for his various advices on the field data collection techniques. I also express my gratitude to the Vanuatu Meteorological and Geo-hazard Department staff particular, a special thanks to Melinda Natapei, David Gibson and Philip Mansale for supporting with the data collection until the completion of the fieldwork. I would like to thank Martinez and his colleagues (2006) for allowing me to reproduce their figure of milkfish life stages in Figure 1.2. My heartfelt gratitude is extended to my family members, in particular Christian Shedrack, Semion Shedrack, Ajay Shedrack, Susila Salemomo and Welpi Tane for assisting me throughout the field data collection. Lastly, I am thankful to my then girlfriend and now my wife, Rose Charley for her love, support and assistance with lab work, food preparation and for everything, she did for me. iv Abstract This study describes the seasonality and abundance of milkfish Chanos chanos fry in the coastal shorelines of Efate Island in order to assess the feasibility of milkfish aquaculture in Vanuatu. The study will enable the knowledge of fry collection so that this species can be cultured for food. Four sampling sites have been assessed in February 2016 for the presence of milkfish fry namely, Erakor, Kawenu, Mele and Teouma. The site with the highest abundance was selected for further seasonality sampling over a one-year period from February 2016 to February 2017. Milkfish fry were collected from February to May and October to December 2016 and, again from January to February 2017. Milkfish fry was absent in other months of the year. Two peaks of fry occurrence were observed, the 1st peak was in April and the 2nd peak was in November. The fry abundance in Teouma was high (relative to other locations such as Erakor, Kawenu and Mele) over the period of seasonality sampling. The abundance between Moon phases showed that more fry were caught in New Moon and 3rd quarter Moon whereby a non-significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed. Milkfish fry collected on Teouma coast measured between 8 mm to 15 mm total length (TL) and the weight range was between 3 mg to 9 mg. The fry were aged 13 to 25 days old, which mean that they spend 2 to 4 weeks in the surf zone before disappearing into other habitats. Environmental variables assessed showed cloud cover is positively correlated with fry abundance, similarly, wind speed and current speed with length, and rainfall and turbidity with weight. Other variable such as temperature in situ do not significantly correlated with fry abundance, weight and length. The prolonged fry seasonality in Vanuatu is advantageous for milkfish fry aquaculture, however the very low abundance documented in Teouma are not. Before a final decision on the viability of milkfish culture in Vanuatu is made, an assessment of multiple sites is recommended. To be cost-effective such a study could be informed by this research with sampling limited to the months when fry abundances peaks. If milkfish culture does proof to be viable, then the landowners of fry collection ground may need to manage activities along the coast to reduce impacts on fry recruitment habitat. Furthermore, fishers may want to consider v managing fishing of milkfish during spawning periods in order to protect spawning stocks. vi Abbreviation and Acronyms ACIAR Australian Center for International Agricultural research ANOVA Analysis of variance BOD Biological demand for oxygen CT Concentration test oC Degree Celsius DO Dissolve oxygen FAO Food and Agricultural Organization GSI Gonadosomatic Index IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change VFD Vanuatu Fisheries Department PIC Pacific Island Country ppt Parts per thousand VMGD Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-hazard Department COSPPac Climate and Ocean Support Program in the Pacific SST Sea surface temperature SPC Pacific Community USP The University of the South Pacific TL Total length vii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... iv Abstract ........................................................................................................................ v Abbreviation and Acronyms ...................................................................................... vii List of figures ............................................................................................................... x List of tables ............................................................................................................... xii Thesis organisation.................................................................................................... xiii Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Milkfish aquaculture ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 Reviews on milkfish (Chanos chanos) .......................................................... 1 1.2.1 Systematics .................................................................................................. 2 1.2.2 Morphology ................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Habitat and life history .................................................................................. 3 1.3.1 Life history ................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Food, Growth and Feeding Habit .................................................................. 7 1.5 Milkfish distribution ...................................................................................... 7 1.6. Milkfish aging, spawning and fry seasonality ................................................... 8 1.6.1 Milkfish spawning ....................................................................................... 9 1.6.2 Seasonality of fry ....................................................................................... 10 1.7 Migration and movement of fry ....................................................................... 11 1.8 Predation on milkfish fry .................................................................................. 12 1.9 Overview of main methods of fry collection .................................................... 12 1.10 Food demand in the Pacific island countries .................................................. 14 1.11 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 16 1.12 Research objectives ........................................................................................ 16 Chapter 2: Methodology ............................................................................................ 18 2.0 Site selection and description ........................................................................... 18 2.1 Sampling materials and methods ...................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Sampling materials .................................................................................... 20 2.1.2 Bulldozer