ARE CRABLETS FOR CRAB GROWING TAKEN FROM MANGROVE FORESTS?
ARE CRABLETS FOR CRAB GROWING TAKEN FROM MANGROVE FORESTS? I keep seeing advertisements on social media for what are sometimes called crab “condos” or cabinets, where people raise mud crabs for fattening. This made me ask a very simple question: Where do the crablets come from? The answer is both interesting and worrying. Yes, a significant portion of the crablets used by the Philippine mud-crab industry still comes from the wild. SEAFDEC/AQD says the industry remains largely dependent on wild collection, although hatchery technology has been developed to provide an alternative. And where are these tiny crabs found? Mangroves, tidal flats, estuaries and other coastal nursery areas. Now I have another question: If these are the natural nurseries of our mud crabs, how much can we take out before we start damaging the resource itself? I am not against crab farming. In fact, I am very much in favor of livelihood programs that allow communities living near mangrove forests to earn from them...