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A Hatchery Operations Manual for Rearing Sandfish, Holothuria Scabra

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A Hatchery Operations Manual for Rearing Sandfish, Holothuria Scabra A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati © Copyright Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), 2014 All rights for commercial / for profit reproduction or translation, in any form, reserved. SPC authorises the partial reproduction or translation of this material for scientific, educational or research purposes, provided that SPC and the source document are properly acknowledged. Permission to reproduce the document and/or translate in whole, in any form, whether for commercial / for profit or non-profit purposes, must be requested in writing. Original SPC artwork may not be altered or separately published without permission. Original text: English Secretariat of the Pacific Community Cataloguing-in-publication data A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati / Secre- tariat of the Pacific Community 1. Sea cucumbers — Kiribati. 2. Trepang fisheries — Kiribati. 3. Hatchery fishes — Kiribati. 4. Holothurian populations — Kiribati. I. Title II. Secretariat of the Pacific Community 593.96099681 AACR2 ISBN: 978-982-00-0867-0 Secretariat of the Pacific Community Coastal Fisheries Programme BP D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia Tel: +687 26 20 00 Fax: +687 26 38 18 Email: [email protected]; http://www.spc.int/ Prepared for publication at Secretariat of the Pacific Community headquarters Noumea, New Caledonia, 2015 A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati Content Overview 1 Background information on sandfish and conditions at Tanaea Hatchery 3 Broodstock management techniques 7 Building a habitat simulator for broodstock fattening and juvenile grow-out 9 Spawning strategies 13 Preparation 13 Spawning induction methods 15 Collecting, counting, measuring and incubating eggs 19 Microalgal culture 19 Microalgae species and their selection for feeding 20 Culture techniques 23 Nutrient media preparation 28 Estimating culture density 31 Calculating the amount of feed for larvae 33 Maintaining microalgal cultures 34 Rearing larval sandfish 35 Larval rearing methods 35 Collecting, counting, measuring and stocking larvae 39 Larval development 39 Settlement techniques 41 Conditioning of settlement plates and tank 41 Transferring larvae and post-larvae from larval rearing tank to settlement tank 43 Juvenile rearing 43 Rearing pentactula and early juveniles in the settlement tank (first nursery culture) 43 Culturing juveniles in the habitat simulator or hapa (second nursery culture) 44 References 47 Glossary 49 A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati Acknowledgments This manual has been produced by Mr Masahiro Ito, SPC external consultant. All photographs appearing in this manual were taken by Masahiro Ito, excluding photo page4, by Ruth Garcia. Figures 19, 21, 23, 25, 26 and 28 were produced by Masahiro Ito and originally appeared in the FAO manual Technical guidance on pearl hatchery development in the kingdom of Tonga, and have been reproduced in this manual with the permission of FAO. This manual is fully funded by SPC. A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati Overview Presently, the sea cucumber industry in Kiribati In February 2013, 120 sandfish broodstock, all ju- consists of sporadic and intense harvesting at a veniles averaging 90 g in wet weight, were import- given island lagoon until local stocks are wiped ed from Fiji. The sandfish were quarantined for out. Businessmen and harvesters sometimes then three months, and during this period no artificial move on to another location where stocks are food was provided (only natural plankton). After abundant. the quarantine period, the sandfish were divided into two groups of 60 animals each. One group The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate was placed in a fish pond (Fig. 1) near the airport hatchery production techniques for rearing sand- and the other group was placed in a concrete tank fish, Holothuria scabra (which does not occur natu- at Tanaea Hatchery in north Tarawa. The concrete rally in this country), including broodstock holding tank measured 4 m x 1.5 m x 0.4 m (2,400 L of and conditioning strategies, and spawning, larval water) and the stocking density was approximate- and post-larval rearing techniques. This mission ly 10 sandfish -2m . The 60 sandfish that were in the would contribute to, through hatchery technology, fish pond died before the hatchery demonstration supplying the needed biomass for a sustainable sea commenced. Therefore, only the 60 sandfish in cucumber industry in the future. If the hatchery the concrete tank were available for spawning tri- technology proves successful in achieving pro- als. These broodstock were fed approximately 1% duction objectives, additional activities relating to of their wet body weight (BW) per day per sand- stock management programmes could then be de- fish (30 g of fishmeal and 30 g Algamac in total). veloped in collaboration with coastal communities According to Kiribati aquaculture officers under and other stakeholders, such as private entrepre- the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources neurs, public institutions, governmental agencies Development (MFMRD) in charge of the public and non-governmental organisations. hatchery, the average BW on 1 August was 65 g, Figure 1. Fish pond near Tarawa Airport. Figure 2. Habitat simulator holding tank system for the sandfish broodstock. 1 A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic1 of Kiribati and was 94 g on 1 September. Although the water cold treatment at around 18–21°C, combined with flow rate was set to more than 400% per 24 hours, an Algamac (artificial dried algae) bath. Basic it was apparent that water quality was deteriorat- methods for microalgal culture, preparing nutri- ing because there was no refreshening of the tank’s ent media, computing culture density, and feed- substrate (muddy sand with left-over fishmeal and ing amounts are provided in this manual. Tanaea Algamac). In order to speed up broodstock fat- Hatchery technicians maintain three microalgae tening and to feed more food in higher stocking species: Chaetoceros mulleri, Isochrysis sp. (T- densities, a habitat simulator holding tank system ISO), and Nannochloropsis oculata (Fig. 3). In (Fig. 2 a) and b), which simulates the seagrass bed this manual only two species, C. mulleri and T- environment of the Tanaea channel, was built in ISO, are suggested for use as food for auricularia the hatchery’s under-cover area. larvae. It should be noted that all microalgae are assumed to be cultured under synchronous culture Spawning induction and larval rearing proto- conditions (i.e. cultured under a controlled light– cols for sandfish have been described by Agudo dark cycle), and feeding protocols are based on (2007) based on hatchery work in New Caledonia. this. Unfortunately, the light–dark period has not Although the basic technique used in Kiribati is been controlled at Tanaea Hatchery, so the feed- the same as Agudo’s, the hatchery protocols for ing protocols and the effect of the feeding dur- Tanaea Hatchery were greatly modified to suit ing the first spawning and larval run do not reflect the available equipment, tools and materials at those in this manual. Preparation, conditioning the hatchery. Tanks included 500-L rectangular and maintenance of settlement tanks are based on or round flat-bottom tanks for spawning, a 2,500- the use of corrugated plastic plates as settlement L raceway tank for larval rearing, and another substrates, so that epiphytes will grow on the tank 2,500-L raceway tank for settlement (the first walls and plates where pentactula and juveniles nursery culture). settle directly on such substrates. The settlement tank with conditioned plates is used for rearing The spawning induction technique uses a dry juveniles for about three to four weeks (the first treatment and thermal shock method at 31–33°C nursery culture) followed by the detachment of after a period of three to four hours, followed by a juveniles for transfer to grow-out in hapas (cages) or habitat simulators (the second nursery culture). While the ultimate goal is to develop a sustain- able sandfish industry in Kiribati, the industry it- self cannot get underway until hatchery technol- ogy is understood and transferred to the Kiribati people, which then proves it is feasible and self- sustainable. To be successful in transferring sand- fish hatchery skills immediately to the Kiribati Fisheries Department personnel and trainees, it is recommended that hatchery trainees be recruited to create a group of core technicians who can then train the next generation of technicians. Figure 3. Microalgae stocks at Tanaea Hatchery. 2 A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati A hatchery operations manual for rearing sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati Background information on sandfish and conditions at Tanaea Hatchery Sea cucumbers have been used for food, medicine seas Fishery Cooperation Foundation, pers. comm.) and other products by the Chinese and Koreans, and subsequently restocked in the wild for grow- and the demand is expected to continue unabated out (Friedman and Tekanene 2005; Purcell and Te- into the future. Processed and dried sea cucumber, kanene 2006). or beche-de-mer, is a valuable source of income for communities in the Asia-Pacific region because sea Establishing and maintaining a sandfish hatchery in- cucumbers are easy to collect and do not require any volves basic equipment and some specialised equip- sophisticated processing techniques. Sea cucumbers ment and materials but not necessarily high-tech can be processed locally and stored in such a way ones (Table 1). Sandfish is a deposit (detritus) feeder that they are preserved until they are shipped out. of organic matter in sand and mud.
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