USSEC conducted a two day seminar, “USSEC Milkfish Cage Aquaculture Seminar/Forum” in the Philippine municipalities of Anda and Bolinao, Pangasinan on September 25 and 26 targeting milkfish cage technicians, farmers, investors and local government units with the objective of sharing USSEC’s Low Volume High Density (LVHD) cage aquaculture technology along with the latest technologies and benefits of using extruded floating feeds in milkfish cage aquaculture in the Philippines and Southeast Asia (SEA
Milkfish (Chanos chanos) is the most important fish species in the Philippines with an annual production of 401,070 metric tons (MT) in 2013.  The province of Pangasinan produced about 100,682 MT in 2013 or about 25.1 percent of the Philippines’ total national milkfish production.  From 2002 to 2013, production of milkfish from aquaculture grew at an average rate of 3.62 percent

During the forum, Levy Loreto Manalac, USSEC Philippines Technical Manager – Aquaculture, discussed the following topics:  “The Benefits of Using Extruded Feeds compared to Steam Pellet Feeds in Milkfish Cage Culture” and “Feeds and Feeding Management in Milkfish Cage Culture to Improve FCR and Productivity.”
Dr. Crispino A. Saclauso (Dean, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas (CFOS-UPV) discussed latest UPV-CFOS and DOST feeding management technologies, and benefits of using extruded floating feeds in milkfish cage aquaculture; Dr. Westly R. Rosario (Center Chief of BFAR – NIFTDC) discussed the status of milkfish cage aquaculture industry in comparison with the cage aquaculture industrialization in Turkey and Norway; and Jocelyn J. Marcial (Aquaculture Technologies, BFAR – NIFTDC) discussed ways and techniques in “Maintaining Good Water Quality inside the Cages to Prevent Fishkills.”
67 participants representing milkfish cage technicians, farmers, investors and staff of local government units from Anda and Bolinao along with feedmill representatives attended the two day forum.  The seminar helped participants gain information on how to improve farmer’s production efficiency, profitability and the lowering of milkfish feed conversion ratio (FCR) in milkfish cage aquaculture.