At the just-concluded national mud crab congress in Iloilo City, it was very clear that to increase production of crabs for export and for the local market, there should be year-round availability of crablets for grow out operations. As for now, crab growers virtually depend on crablets gathered from the wild. The problem is that the availability of crablets from the wild is seasonal. Another disadvantage is that crablets being sold are oftentimes a mixture of desired king crab (Scylla serrata) and other extraneous species that are hard to identify while they are very small. To solve the problem of seasonal availability of crablets for growing, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD) spearheaded research on various aspects of mud crab production some 20 years ago with funds provided by CGIAR from Australia followed by funding from Europe, SEAFDEC-AQD itself, then Japan and lastly, starting 2012, DOST-PCAARRD.

Sarian, Z. B. (2015, November 19). Crablets: key to increase in crab output. Manila Bulletin, p. B-7.