Assessment of the Quality Management Practices of the Mud Crab Industry Players in Gubat, Sorsogon

Date

5-2024

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Melodee Marciana E. De Castro

Committee Member

Jeanette Angeline B. Madamba, Rolando G. Allam, Jr.

Abstract

Mud or Mangrove crab is a variety of crab with 4 different sub-species which are Scylla serrata, Scylla olivacea, Scylla transquebarica, and Scylla paramamosain. The most popular type of mud crab is the Scylla serrata or what we know as “Bulik” or “King Crab” in the Philippines (Ladesma, 2023). This variety was the focus of the study. In 2017, the Philippines was the 2nd top producer of mud crabs in the world (RARE, 2019). The mangrove crab industry in Gubat, Sorsogon has a revenue of more than Php. 50 million a year.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the quality management practices in Gubat, Sorsogon. Specifically, the specific objectives of the study were to (1) Describe the socio-demographic profile and characteristics of the mud crab key players. (2) Discuss the production, marketing, and trading practices relevant to the quality management in the mud crab industry in Gubat, Sorsogon. (3) Compare the compliance level of the local mud crab industry in terms of quality standards for mud crabs to that of internationally established standards. (4) Assess the mud crab quality compliance of the mud crab industry players of Gubat, Sorsogon to the Philippines (BAF GAqP), and International (FAO manual), and the quality standards of the customers. (5) Evaluate the factors, challenges, and prospects faced by the mud crab industry players in terms of its quality management practices in the value chain. (6) Formulate recommendations to improve the quality of the mud crabs to maintain the industry’s competitiveness. There were 30 gatherers, 32 operators, and 28 traders that were subjected to the survey. For the Focus group Discussion, the study had 10 respondents for each FGD. The 10 respondents were 3 gathers, 4 fishpond operators, and 3 traders. The study had 3 FGDs, which means that 30 respondents participated in the FGD. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and used in the study.

The age profile of the three key players varied. The age range for the industry was from 11-74. When it comes to the level of education, most of the gatherers were elementary graduates while most of the traders and operators were college graduates. The average number of industry experience for the three groups was 21.6 for the gatherers, 24.87 for the operators, and 23.86 for the traders. The average monthly income for mud crab gatherers was Php. 7,200. For the mud crab operators, it was Php. 34,469 and Php. 34,705 was for the traders. The most prominent type of farm culture practiced in the mud crab industry was polyculture. The size of the farm ranged from 0.05 ha to 170 ha. Most of the fishponds were privately owned but without an FLA. For trading, most traders own their trading business.

When it comes to gathering there were two types of catching gear which were the duyan-duyan and the sudsud. The caught seed stocks ranged from 2,000 to 10,000 pieces for peak season and 500 to 1,000 pieces for lean seasons. The gatherers’ mode of transportation to sell these mud crab seedstocks was by foot and motorcycle. The number of seed stocks dropped in the fishpond ranged from 1,500 to 200,000 pieces for peak season and 0 to 75,000 pieces for lean seasons. The price of one peso per piece in the lean season goes up to 3 or 4 pesos per seed stock during peak seasons. There were two types of feeds used by the mud crab operators which were the commercial feeds and trash fish. For the equipment in harvesting, Bintol was a harvesting device used by mud crab operators. For pest management practices, most small-scale operators use pesticides to kill these species while some use manual removal. For manpower, most of the fishpond farms in the industry have only one employee who is also the owner of the farm. For long-term transportation, bayongs were used. Transporting mud crabs to the local market uses rice sacks and net bags. There were three ways of transporting the mud crabs to the local markets which were by foot or using vehicles like motorcycles and tricycles. There are 4 modes of transportation when it comes to the outside markets. These were the vans, jeepneys, buses, and planes.

The researcher tested the level of compliance with the BAF standards of each of the players. The gatherers had a mean of 3.73 which means that their level of compliance is “often practiced.” When it comes to the traders, the mean level of compliance was at 3.36 which was sometimes practiced. For the operators, their mean level of compliance was at 3.22 which meant often practiced. All in all, the level of compliance with the BAF standards of the industry was often practiced. Some of the key areas that have the lowest level of compliance were packaging and labeling, sampling and analysis, and minimizing stress throughout the chain. Process description and checking for defects were the categories with the highest level of compliance. The level of compliance with the standard practices in the FAO manual that was not included in the BAF standards was also tested. The mean level of compliance with the FAO manual was 3.89 which means that it was often practiced. After cross-correlating the practices with different variables, only the primary income of the traders and operators had a significant correlation with the level of compliance. Thus, the higher the income, the better the level of compliance when it comes to traders and operators. A 65.29% increase in net profit was observed for a 0.05-ha mud crab farm when quality management practices were observed. For a 0.5-ha farm, it had a 78.34% increase. For a 170-ha farm, a 53.50% increase in net profit was observed when the farm used the quality management practices enumerated in the BAF standards. Qualities like fat content, complete and symmetric mud crab body parts, the absence of defectives in their shells, and a preference for juvenile female mud crabs are the quality characteristics that the customers were looking for. During the three Focus Group Discussions five main factors affected compliance which were climate change, lack of government support, the perspective of the key player, lack of awareness and resources, and customer perception. The participants enumerated and described these factors and the problems that they face in the industry. These were the water salinity, feed size, diseases, frauds and scams, and the process of permitting.

From the results and discussion, the researcher recommended actions which were the use of approved gears by the gatherers, proper packaging and labeling by the traders, and government-issued permits by the farm operators should be done. The local and national governments should provide support for the industry. This could be in the form of programs, policies, and regulations. Regulation against the biosecurity threat of “pulahan”, and policies for packaging and labeling of transported mud crabs are needed by the industry.

Language

English

LC Subject

Scylla (Crustacea), Crab industry

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2024 M17 E83

Notes

Best Special Problem (Agribusiness Management)

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Document Type

Thesis

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