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It's not as crazy as it sounds. A very interesting idea....if this guy is able to develop it further it could totally change the hobby. This could be huge. I'll let you read and form your own ideas:

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Fish may now be shipped one day sans water

"The Filipino who found a way to ship live fish without water has been able to increase the length of time the fish are without water from 12 to 24 hours.

Bonifacio Comandante said this would further boost the competitiveness of fish traders in the world market.

"We have been successful in putting fish to sleep for 24 hours without water," said Comandante, who arrived here last week from San Francisco, USA, where he won the Best International Business Award in the University of San Francisco Business Plan Competition.

He told a news conference here on Tuesday that the technology to put fish to sleep may also be applied successfully to prawns, which can be put to sleep for as long as 12 hours.

Oysters, he said, may be put to sleep for the longest time -- 48 hours.

After completing a long journey without water, the oysters are placed in ordinary water for seven days, where they post a 97-percent survival rate.

Comandante said at present oysters are being shipped from Zamboanga to Manila using the conventional method where they are placed in containers filled with seawater, but they still post a 50-percent mortality rate upon reaching Manila.

This breakthrough will surely spark added interest in his invention, especially in Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea, where consumers put a premium on live marine products.

At the press conference, Comandante paid tribute to the province of Oriental Negros, the City of Bais, Silliman University, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Negros Oriental Business Development Foundation for supporting his endeavor.

Comandante was "discovered" by local venture capitalists after winning the 1st Negros Oriental Business Development Foundation Innovation Awards last year, funded by the provincial government.

His technology put fish to sleep without water for 12 hours, thus making it possible to ship more fish in place of the weight of the water.

Comandante was the first Filipino to win the Best International Business Award at the University of San Francisco -- an annual competition that was held March 9-12.

When asked if his technology could be applied to humans, Comandante said it would require more studies and funding, but he was not discounting the possibility in the future.

Comandante said he has received pledges of US$4.5 million from his Australian partners to do research on the possibility of shipping live tuna without water. The studies will be done within the next two years, he said."

~from: http://www.goodnewsphilippines.com/balita/publish/article_28.shtml

A few other links/articles:

http://www.inq7.net/reg/2004/jun/19/reg_13-1.htm
http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=31095

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When I first read about it I almost fell off my chair, it sounds brilliant and amazing.....thoughts anyone?

EDIT: Found a better article and the bold italics are hard to read:

Pinoy develops technology for waterless transport of live fish

"A Filipino aquaculture practitioner in Central Visayas has developed a technology which makes possible to transport live fish and keep it alive, for several hours even without water, enabling fish traders to bring in more fish and earn more profit Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo said recently.

He said the technique, set to be officially introduced to the public on June 8, extends a fish's survival without water while in transit by virtually putting it into a deep sleep or in "suspended animation' early on using certain procedures and some liquid solutions, and later allowing it to recover from unconsciousness and get back to life.

Lorenzo said the new technology presents itself as a better alternative to the conventional practice of keeping fish alive while on travel by putting it in a container with water, a method not only inconvenient and cumbersome, but also entails considerable costs.

"Let in be known in the fishing world that the Philippines has now developed a technology for waterless transport of live fish, a method that will revolutionize the way we normally handle fish after harvest," he said.

Citing a report from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr., Lorenzo said the technology has been developed by Bonifacio Comandante Jr, a private aquaculturist from Dumaguete City, who is now working to get his work patented.

The new technology entails the fishes to be shipped, especially if marine species, to undergo a conditioning process whereby they are held overnight in filtered, circulated seawater at about 30 degrees Centigrade without feeding, after which they are transferred to another tank filled with brackish water initially kept at 4 degrees C, then gradually allowed to reach 18 to 20 degrees C.

An anti-stress conditioning cum acclimatizing then follows by adding a mixture of a liquid solution called Buhi Blend developed by Comandante, to the conditioning tank, and immersing the fishes into it for minutes after which the stunned animals are arranged in cooled (18 to 20 degrees C) Styropor boxes lined with plastic bags.

Sarmiento said the bags are later filled with medical oxygen and sealed for transport. The fishes are expected to regain consciousness after about nine hours.

In recent test to determine if the technique works, groupers (lapu lapu) delivered to the BFAR central office laboratory in Quezon City from Iloilo using the "waterless technology" were observed to regain consciousness after eight hours of travel, with the temperature in the storage box at 25 degrees C, Sarmiento said.

"The fishes were observed to be initially disoriented but eventually recovered after acclimatization in aerated tap water to which Biomix seawater formula has been added," he said.

While the waterless transport of live fish has been tried by some traders before the technology presented by Comandante has greater promise for use by live fish trades in the country, Sarmiento told Lorenzo.

He said the "Buhi blend' developed by the inventor and used as anti-stress solution needs further analysis to identify its specific components as well as its safety for use in the live transport of fish intended for human consumption.

So far, Sarmiento pointed out that initial findings, from BFAR show there were no harmful substances found in the fish species subjected to the waterless technology."

~from: http://www.da.gov.ph/updates/waterless.html

Last edited by trystianity at 08-Jun-2005 07:55

97% isn't good enough. But sounds neat. I'd love to see the effects on the gills and other sensitive tissue.

Looks like 97% is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the normal way of shipping, in the example the oysters at 50% survival. That's about 1/16th the casualties. But, yeah, could use a longer test of survival rates to see if it does any long term damage.

i'm assuming they are still shipped wet . otherwise you qould have dehydration problem and the like. seem rather interesting though.

97% was in her first rendition of the story.

she has since edited it. I dont' know if you've ever seen shipments that come in to pet shops, but i've only seen casualties over 3% a handful of times, and they were feeders that were jammed in a little baggie.

well..i think thats a good development...less weight means u can ship more fish with that high survival rate...thats a gud start i say!!!

she has since edited it. I dont' know if you've ever seen shipments that come in to pet shops, but i've only seen casualties over 3% a handful of times, and they were feeders that were jammed in a little baggie.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure most fish shipped internationally from fishers do not go directly to stores, but rather to some wholesaler who'll house them and, perhaps, take the brunt of the die-off. I could be wrong because, after all, I haven't ever worked at a fish store.

This is pretty interesting... However, I'm wondering about the side effects, if any. Cyanide is used to help catch fish and we all know that it doesn't help keep the fish alive once it's in your tank.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

they used to ship bettas without water, just in layers of wet paper.

They ship crayfish in moist wood shavings.

The concept isn't new, but i'd be interested in what sort of solutions he is using and if i would feel comfortable eating or keeping a creature that had been in contact with it.





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