MASTER A SKILL or technique that other people find it difficult to do, and you will have a niche that can make you rich. Just like a fellow from Daet, Camarines Norte who has mastered the art of culturing tiny lapu-lapu fingerlings to 5-inch size. We learned this from Dr. Ruben Tan of Macalelon, Quezon when he visited us in our farm in Teresa, Rizal in July 2019.

NOT EASY – Even  Dr. Tan, the the veteran lapu-lapu growout operator from Quezon, admits he is not successful in growing the tiny fingerlings that could be had for as low as P1 each. So he just buys the 5-inch fingerlings that cost him P60 each for his grow-out operation.

 IN 4 MONTHS – The Daet fingerling expert can grow the tiny fingerlings to 5-inch size in a matter of four months. He is lucky because lapu-lapu fingerlings from the wild are available in the Philippines in different places at different times so he has a year-round supply. 

GROWOUT ALSO PROFITABLE – When Dr. Tan visited us, he said he had placed an order for 2,000 five-inch fingerlings from the Daet guy. That was worth a cool P120,000 for the Daet man. Dr. Tan grows his lapu-lapu to at least 500 grams each which he sells live at more than P500 per kilo. It is also profitable to grow market-size lapu-lapu!