hello to everyone.

ive been in the net looking for people that can help us control the population of plecostumus here in our lakes in the philippines. and im hoping there are people here can give us an idea what to do about it.

it was introduced in our lakes by fish enthusiasts that probably got fed up with the plec and threw it in the lake.
right now if you throw a fishing net in one of our affected lakes, you can get a boatful(dinghy size) in about 5minutes.

the solution being done right now is to capture as much fish as they can and bury it alive.
there are also steps being done to see whether the plecostumus has any other use, e.g. biodiesel, cosmetics, etc. but if there are no concrete examples or someone/something to base it on i think this will not move.

my question is has someone done this before? if you can give me the contact number of the person or his website that would be great.

ty in advance and hope for your replies

Here is a picture of Janitor fish from a lake in the Philippines


This is particularly interesting to me because, though I live in Canada now, I spent a summer working in Los banos in the Philippines. I've looked around a little and it appears there are already some potential solutions underway. See this article for some references.

Basically, seems like the best thing to do is to find some predators for it. Since its edible (they eat it grilled and in soup in South America apparently) people may be be the best choice.

bgood,

thanks thats great information...but what concerns me is the date of the article,june 5 2006. as of right now there are still no concrete solution in the part of LLDA or DENR. i saw a follow up article on the marikina river around 3 months ago and the status still the same. your idea of eating the fish is already being done in some provinces here, but its not a popular dish because of how it looks.

i guess the govt still doesnt see the gravity of the situation because the best idea came not from a philippine scientist but from a high school student in marikina!!

if we can find a use for the plecostumus, specially if one can turn it into a tiny profit, i believe people will grab all the fish they could get and finally get rid of the plecs in our lakes once and for all...comments?

A paper that may be of some help...


Invasive alien species (IAS): Concerns and status in the Philippines
By: Ravindra C. Joshi
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Maligaya,
Science City of Muoz, Nueva Ecija 3119, Philippines
E-mail: rcjoshi@philrice.gov.ph; joshiraviph@yahoo.com


Here is a pertinent paraphrase from the paper..

"More recently, the South American sucker mouth catfish or janitor fish, earlier identified as Plecoptomus hypoglosus and later verified to be Pterygoplichthys pardalis and P. disjunctivus have become invasive in the Marikina River (Metro Manila), Lake
Paitan in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija and Laguna de Bay (Agasen, 2005). Introduced by the aquarium trade industry, the species escaped into natural waters. Damage to the banks of the Marikina River and fish cages in Laguna de Bay by the nuisance catfish is claimed. A bounty system for the eradication of the janitor fish has been launched by the City Government of Marikina. The live fish is brought at the price of P5 per kilogram and then destroyed. A World Bank-funded project for the conversion of the species into fishmeal is being implemented by the Laguna Lake Development Authority in cooperation with a farmers cooperative in Laguna."

You may also want to look into this organization


Invasive Alien Species


The purpose of this web site is to assist ASEAN countries in understanding aquatic invasive alien species (aquatic IAS) so that the benefits from appropriate use of alien species in fisheries and aquaculture can be maximized and the risks that they pose can be managed. A recent meeting1 of countries in the Mekong/Lanchang Basin called for increased capacity "to undertake preliminary environmental impact assessment and import risk analysis". The meeting further concluded that there was a need "to organize the various types of information on impacts of alien species into a central repository or clearing house for the region."

This web site provides users with information and experiences on aquatic IAS in order to address the above requests. It is intended as a tool to raise awareness of the issues and to assist users in making science-based decisions concerning the risks associated with movements of aquatic animals that may have the potential to become IAS. The web site is organized around the general principles of "risk analysis."

From the same website, here is a link to list of International Regulatory Documents dealing with the introduction and/or transfer of aquatic organisms.

Hopefully something within these regulatory documents can help you find a solution.

thanks trook!!