Building a Small Lobster Hatchery here in the Philippines

[jamesmusslewhite]

16 September, 2016

Well it has been a while since I posted any new photos of the project. We had a little drought which hindered the collection of rainwater needed to do the cement work and even though it was been rather windy which hinders having materials delivered to the work site. But through that we were still able to work on various projects.

 

Also Two days ago I received a call from a representative of Winrock International named Mr. Joselito L. Nobillos who is a fisheries specialist working with the PCCP (Philippine Cold Chane Project) here in the Caragao Provence Region XIII which also includes Dinaget Island Provence and Siagao Island..

http://www.winrockpccp.org/index.php

It seems somehow Mr. Nobillos boss who is American has somehow heard of that crazy American trying to build a lobster hatchery from Dinaget Island. He told Mr. Nobillos to try to track me down. Mr. Nobillos told me by chance while asking about me he was able to get my cell phone number number from a feed distributor working in this area. So Tuesday he text me asking if he could visit the island as he would be in the Day-asan area. I was more than happy to talk with him and walk him through the facility explaining all the particulars involving various processes and procedures that will be done with this particular design and layout. He actually spent a couple of hours here chatting with me, so I sat down and showed him many of my designs and diagrams of this facility's layout and all the associated equipment which I designed to be used in this hatchery. He told me he would report back to his boss so I will see if his boss contacts ma and what will develop from our conversation. I know that PCCP is a rather large and diverse player in this region and they are partnered with USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and Winrock International, as well as quite a few Philippine government agencies. Who knows this could prove to be an opportunity to network with the upper tier of various federal and regional agencies operating here in the Caraga Provence XIII region. I am also well known by the Caraga Regional Governor Mrs. Sol Matugus and my business partner in this venture is the sitting Vice Mayor of Surigao City.

One of the goals I have is to establish an area here as a designated mariculture sanctuary where endangered corals, molluscs and crustaceans can be relocated and protected. This area where the facility is located ideal for such a project as it is the head waters for the Surigao Straights which through it's natural currents help reseed this region. With luck is approved then policies can be but in place to develop other designated protected zones in and around these small islands. It may be only a mere drop of water towards stemming the problem but at least it is a first drop; but if enough drops start it may have a real positive effect. Being able to network with the right people in the right government agencies to help stimulate kick starting such a project and help aid in securing the necessary permits and documents approvals. Or this could be a big much to do about nothing, and proves to be merely well wishing and boring hopeful lip-service on my part, only time will tell. but I will keep my fingers crossed..   

 

Enough of that, later this evening I will be posting some more photos here to the thread and I am also presently uploading the 10th video in the series showing the progress over the last 12 days and with luck later this evening or early morning it will be finished. For those interested check back later to watch the video. I have to apologize about the quality of these videos as they are being shot with a cell phone and I have little time or the expertise to properly edit and polish them right now. Perhaps at a latter date I will sit down and have the time to try to tackle that issue, until then you just have to listen to my bumbling ramblings and amateur camera work. 

 

[jamesmusslewhite]

Earlier on this thread I showed the 3/8 inch thick marine plywood tray I built as a pattern. That tray was transported back to the mainland were workers have been building the other 99 trays that will be needed for the Stage IV larvae once Yesterday and today the workers transported the first twenty trays here to the work site.

 

 

 

Each plywood tray will receive two coats of epoxy paint which will help further protect and extend the useful life of the marine plywood trays as well as help insure there is no possible contamination from glues and other chemicals used in the bonding process by the manufactures of these marine plywood sheets. So the two coats of epoxy paint actually serves two useful purposes and well worth the additional expense. One (1 gallon) can of epoxy paint will easily coat all the outer and inner surfaces of three plywood trays. I still may choose to later add one more coat of clear epoxy paint on all the inner surfaces of the 100 trays.

They also delivered the first of the bamboo lengths that I will use to make the bamboo racks to house the stack of five trays. Now once these trays have the additional accessories added including the sheets of plastic egg crate. Each tray will weigh approximately 550 pound once they are filled with saltwater.

So I believe my design and plans to use two 3/8 inch plywood cutout brace epoxied together to make single 3/4 inch thick plywood brace. These heavy braces, brackets and supports will have designated slits and drilled holes that will allow them to be firmly lashed to the bamboo poles making the bamboo rack both extremely strong and rigid and more than capable of handling the over 2,500 pounds of combined weight of these five Stage IV grow-out trays. I can but using these plywood bracing avoid unnecessary clutter and restriction of easy access to the 575 Stage IV larvae housed in each of those 100 plywood grow-out trays. It is very important to do so as each Stage IV larvae will require feeding a minimum of 4 times daily and they needed attending to as well as being able to clean and maintenance each 2 inch x 2 inch living space in each of those 100 grow-out trays. Once they are ready to advance to Stage V the larvae are ready to be removed and placed in floating caged net systems until which time they are sold.

 

 

[jamesmusslewhite]

After they delivers the first 260 of the new batch of 1,000 hollow blocks to the work site we have been able to resume constructing the walls of the two largest saltwater tanks, and are building the wooden form so we can pour a solid concrete top ring cap on top of these two tanks.    now pouring the cement top ring. These two tanks were constructed just as all the other tanks. We added a rebar rib every other row of hollow block with an additional rebar rib in the center of the solid top ring.

These two tanks were constructed just as was all of the other tanks. We added a rebar rib every other row of hollow block and added an additional rebar rib inside the center core of the solid concrete top ring cap. Each of these two tanks will have three PVC over flows which will later be routed to a floor sump were a submersible pump will send this spent saltwater to the first of the three filtration tanks before being returned to the left tank which will be the secondary working tank. The tank on the right will be my primary saltwater storage tank.

Each of these two tanks are (5 feet width x 10 feet length x 6 feet height) and will hold 2,244 gallons (8,495 liters) of saltwater weighing approximately 19,000 lbs each. The total volume of water held in all the tanks will be 25,347 gallons (95,994 liters) of saltwater weighing approximately 213,675 lbs.

[jamesmusslewhite]

This is the 10th video in the series of regular weekly video updates

 

 

I hope you find it entertaining and informative.

[jamesmusslewhite]

20 September, 2016

   Now as the workers are working on the saltwater tanks we can look at some of the side projects which must be incorporated into the daily operation of the hatchery. Two things which must be completed is freshwater fish ponds to raise fish to supply the huge feed requirements needed to keep large volumes of lobster larvae, fingerlings and young adults healthy.  The probably the most prolific fish and fastest growing fish is the freshwater Tilapia fish.  Four hundred breeding pairs can easily produce 2.5 million fingerlings a year. Females can start breeding in only six months. They can be through a process called ‘sex-reversal’ insure the predominant number of fingerlings will be male gendered. Males are generally 35% by size and weight. Tilapia will eat almost anything they can get into their mouths and are exceptionally easy to raise in tanks and nets making them the perfect choice.

   On our farm on Dinaget Island we have a strip of land and rice patties running down the center of our property which is continuously feed by a fresh water flow. Starting next Spring I will start digging the first of many small fish ponds, each approx. (60-80 feet length x 20 feet width), starting above the rice patties. These small ponds will be perfect for using floating fish cages as well as floating vegetable grow platforms. As the ponds are being dig the top soil layer will be completely striped away and relocated to another area of the farm where it will be temporarily stockpiled, then the various subsoil layers will be used to construct garden terraces. I will dig two ponds at a time which will allow me dig the first pond and build a terrace, and when I dig the second pond the stripped topsoil layer from the second pond will be used to top dress the first terrace, than when the second pond is dug and the second terrace is made then the previous stockpiled top soil from the first pond dig will be used to top dress the second terrace. I will continue this leap-frogging process each time I start to dig the next pair of ponds. Then there will be no wasted soils and fresh productive terraced garden beds can be made as the soils are being removed. This also insures that any soil removed during the digging process does not need to moved more than a very short distance greatly reducing the construction costs of the pond excavation and terraced garden beds.

 

   The drawing is a crude sketch showing a rough concept of the fish pond shape, placement of floating fish cages and the channeling of inlet water and water runoff. The topography of the slope of the land where these fish ponds will be dug allows pond is slightly elevated above the other. This allows a slight water drop insuring a consistent general flow from pond to pond to pond. This gentle water flow will allow higher fish stock density to the floating fish net cages as well as keeping a higher water purity as there will be no stagnation in any of these fish ponds. 

   I will also use a floating walkway configuration around the fish cages which will allow ease in tending to and maintenance of fish stocks. I will also use floating platforms which will be used to grow vegetables and herbs. This multicropping in the ponds help serve two purposes. a. increases revenue streams. b. helps shade the water surfaces in the ponds helping in reducing the water temperatures allowing for less oxygen loss during the heat of the day. And as the fish in production are raised in net cages, these ponds will also serve as a freshwater sanctuary for several varieties of local fish species as well as a local species of blue prawns. These ponds can help support the feed requirements of the lobster hatchery as well as help maintain a healthy population of the indigenous species by keeping them free of the harmful chemical applications used in rice farming practices which is seriously reducing their populations. These indigenous species can easily swim up the headwaters where these ponds will be located and they can comfortably virtually undisturbed in the water spaces within the ponds which are not occupied by the fish cages. They can swim easily from pond to pond and feed on the fine roots from the vegetables and herbs, plant vegetation added just for this purposed on the bottoms of the ponds,  as well as the uneaten portions of feed not eaten by the caged fish which the currents carryout of the fish cages. These ponds would serve as a safe spawning ground and nursery area for the indigenous fish.This is a project I have designed and waited to start for over seven years now. Next Spring I will finally start on this much anticipated venture and I will be sure to add it to this thread   

   When I started drawing the fish pond concept I knew that it would be wise to incorporate it with another venture which is to construct a small nursery greenery when digging the first set of ponds as they were being built. As I moved the soils from the pond digs I could level a space on the first two terraces where I could lay nursery ground cloth and build a covered area using wooden poles and bamboo to use to hold a shade cloth canopy. This would be designed with a irrigation system and three small PVC shade/rain greenhouses to raise seed starters, cuttings, clones and root stock till they are ready to be relocated and replanted throughout the farm and the floating vegetables platforms used in the fish ponds.  Such a setup would help maximize vegetable production output for the farm, These are some of the rough sketches I drew shortly after we moved here in August 2006.

   I was organically planning to put the nursery/greenery in the area where the fish ponds would be dug but I later decided it was better is it were places on one of the first two new garden terraces that would be dug. We had first intended to move directly to the farm, but we realized the school there were not to the standard of High schools in Surigao City. Later our son was allowed to take the entrance exam to be accepted for one of the first year class spots in Caraga Regional Science High school, and when he scored quite well on the exam and was secured a spot we chose to simply put the farm on hold and moved to a place that was within close walking distance from the school. So I put the drawings in a folder where they gathered dust for the last 7-1/2 years. To my wife our son's education was paramount and anything else was merely secondary. The drawing above merely is the grow, irrigation head coverage and the frame locations of the three rain houses. 

   The drawing above is simply showing the irrigation risers and sprinkler head types and placement

 

   The crude 3d drawing above is the pole placements of the over-head shadecloth canopy over the grow pad and the shadecloth covers over the PVC rain houses.

   The two crude 3d drawings below is merely a basic frame diagram for the construction of the PVC greenhouse/rainhouses.

 

   This last crude drawing is the pump for the irrigation system, a basic Jacuzzi pump would easily do the trick when placed on a floating wooden platform.

   So this basically covers the intro into two future projects that I know I will be tackling in the months to come, and when I do I will be covering them in much more depth and detail as they are started and progress. This is just a sneak preview 

[jamesmusslewhite]

27 September, 2016

   The project has been progressing nicely over the last on the building of the saltwater tanks since last we spoke.. The first five saltwater tanks have been completed and are now ready to have the final ceramic tile inner layer added.

   The solid top ring on the two largest tanks was poured and the water proof cement layer added to the inside of the two tanks as was the outside layer. Which has these two tanks almost ready for the ceramic inner lining to be added. So 5 tanks are ready to be tiled and the two largest tanks are curing and are almost ready for the tile and we have started on the last three foundations for the remaining 6 tanks to be built. 

Edited October 3, 2016 by jamesmusslewhite

[jamesmusslewhite]

   These three foundations are for the 6 food production tanks which will be used to raise shrimp, brine shrimp, rotifers, planktonic copepods, and algae which will be used to feed the lobsters larvae through their first five stages.

 

   And with a little luck all the saltwater tanks will be finished and the ceramic inner lining completed and I will be working on the concrete rack mounts and floor sumps and building the bamboo racks for the Stage IV grow-out trays and the larvae cones. Speaking of which, tomorrow I will finally be able to start building the model for my 5 tier Stage IV larvae racks... 

Edited October 3, 2016 by jamesmusslewhite

[jamesmusslewhite]

29 September, 2016

This is the 11th weekly progress video in this continuing video series.

 

 

[jamesmusslewhite]

   The work on the six food production tanks is progressing nicely and with luck in the next few days the exterior and interior cent layers will applied and these six tanks will be ready for the interior tile linings. 

   Now comes the time that I have to finish the drawings for the plywood molds for the floor mounts and anchors for the twenty bamboo Stage IV Lobster Racks, as well as the molds for the three different size concrete floor sump boxes. I still need to rake-out a level grade to floor space inside the facility so I can begin to stake all the locations for the concrete floor anchors and concrete sump boxes. So I will be busy at the drawing board over the next couple of weeks so I can stay ahead of the work crews and insure all the measurements have been carefully calculated to insure there are no complications further down the line.

   And while I am doing this I still have to build my first working prototype of the Stage IV Larvae Tray Rack and the working setup for 5 grow-out trays housed in the rack. I will also be building a prototype of the Lobster Larvae Cone Rack, Protein Skimmer, Sand Filter and Algae Bucket. So There are lots of extra long working days and sleepless nights ahead of me over the next few weeks to say the least, but I will be doing it with a big smile on my face. After years of conceptual drawings and diagrams I am finally going to be making their prototypes and testing my own theories and hypothesis which I personally find both gratifying and exciting.            

[jamesmusslewhite]

   The racks that I will eventually build will have 5 (2 foot X 8 foot X 6 inch) fiberglass trays and a heavy square-iron rack. These will be expensive as there are 100 fiberglass trays and 20 heavy metal racks with will need to be fabricated.

 

 

   I have designed marine plywood trays and and racks constructed out of bamboo as a much cheaper options. The logic is to help minimize initial startup costs and allow future profits derived from the use of these cheaper racks and trays to pay for their eventual upgrade. I still expect to get several dependable crop cycles from this cheaper solution.

 

Side View of Stage IV Lobster Larvae Grow-out Tray Rack

 

Top View of Individual Tray Shelf for Stage IV Lobster Tray Rack

   So first thing is to cut the bamboo pieces and take a sheet of 3/8 inch plywood and draw the outlines for the various plywood brackets which will need to the cuts and drilled so the rack can be built. 

   So over the next few days I will try to figure out how to best piece this rack project together where the bamboo rack will be sturdy enough that it can easily handle the weight of over 2,500 pounds of saltwater slouching-about during a moderate ground shaker, and still allow as little obstruction as possible to make it easy to work with the 576 Stage IV lobster larvae in each tray while allowing easy working access to all five trays that will be housed in the rack. I personally believe that I have done this task sufficiently in my design and that I have covered all the bases by applying due-diligence, but a prototype has to first be built and tested before this can be proven to be true. If I am right than I can easily move on to the next project, but if I am wrong then I have to either make the necessary adjustments or go back to the drawing board and design a far better solution. I will soon know which is true or not,