An aquaculture experiment by an intergovernmental body based in southern Iloilo province was able to successfully breed in captivity the galunggong (round scad).

The experiment, conducted by a team led by Ma. Irene Cabanilla-Legaspi, is believed to be the world’s first successful attempt.

Galunggong is supposed to be an affordable fish and considered to be a poor man’s fish. However, decline in local supply made galunggong prices soar.

Prices range from P250 to P300 per kilo. The shortage led the Department of Agriculture (DA) to even approve the importation of the fish.

With the recent scientific breakthrough experiment by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD, local production of galunggong in hatcheries looks possible.

“We now have thousands of galunggong in different larval to early juvenile stages at our hatchery which we hope to further grow to market sizes to prove that we can farm galunggong,” said Dan Baliao, chief of SEAFDEC-AQD.

The research team has been collecting galunggong breeders off southern Iloilo province and neighboring Antique province since 2020 as part of a Japanese-funded project.

The research found that the galunggong breeders held in captivity last August 2021 and October 2021 began laying eggs starting December 2021 and even until February 2022. Fingerling significantly grew within 50 days.

“We observed that the fish were growing very fast. When they reach 20-days old, they have very fast growth and we can obtain 2.5-centimeter round scads in 25 days,” noted Cabanilla-Legaspi.

Dr. Leobert de la Peña, SEAFDEC-AQD scientist, said galunggong has a “very high survival” rate compared to other fish species grown.