A sustainable aquaculture model in Indonesia: multi-biotechnical approach in Clarias farming

Abstract

Clarias catfish is the second rank of Indonesian commodity after tilapia in the production of freshwater aquaculture. It is due to the biotechnical innovations in aquaculture for breeding and grow-out, as well as selective breeding of superior fish. Nowadays, Clarias farming is a promising business because of a large market available in line with food security, fish farmers’ welfare, and sustainable aquaculture. The objectives of this paper are to review the latest status of Clarias catfish, improvement technologies used, challenges, constraints, and strategies to increase and maintain national production. In terms of seedlings production, the existing technology is relatively well-established with available segmentation in fingerling production. As for grow-out, many innovations such as the use of probiotics, biofloc, aquaponics, RAS, and IMTA provide opportunities for various business scales. The availability of technology based on a biotechnical approach enables to improve and maintain the sustainability of national Clarias production. The progress of Clarias farming in the last decade should be suggested as a model for other potential species. It is recommended that genetically improved Clarias by utilizing the potential of local catfish should be applied to produce specific advantages for development in certain areas and to increase business productivity.