At the Marine Aquaculture Center (MAC), located on St John’s island, the team develop aquaculture technology to help local farms overcome challenges and improve farm productivity and sustainability.
A significant challenge for the fish farms in Singapore is the scarcity of land and sea space for aquaculture. The coastal fish farms (117) are limited in their expansion due to Singapore’s role as a maritime hub and so most of the sea space is reserved for trading vessels.
The technologies developed at MAC aim to help farmers increase their productivity taking into account this constraint.
Technologies adopted include:-
- A selective breeding programme to develop superior broodstocks with a view to increasing growth rates.
- Closed containment aquaculture systems to allow better control of water quality, water discharge and improved disease management. These systems also allow for better protection from algal blooms that can decimate fish stocks.
- Live feed production technology improving the quality of live feeds through the reduction in bacterial load.
The tour allowed the pre-conference delegates to view the spawning pools, hatcheries and live feed laboratories. The enthusiasm and passion of the team at MAC were plainly evident and it was a pleasure to visit.
Carol-Anne Warnock