To develop broodstock under captive conditions, large juvenile milkfish may be stocked, fed and maintained in floating sea cages in protected coves or in large, deep, fully saline ponds (as practiced in the Philippines), or in large deep concrete tanks on land (as practiced in Indonesia and Taiwan Province of China), until they reach sexual maturity with an average body weight of at least 1.5 kg. Land-based broodstock facilities are entirely dependent on fresh pumped seawater supplies and are often integrated with a hatchery.
Broodstocks reach maturity in five years in large floating cages, but may take 8-10 years in ponds and concrete tanks. On average, first-spawning broodstocks tend to be smaller than adults caught from the wild. As a result, first-time spawners produce fewer eggs than wild adults, but larger and older broodstocks produce as many eggs as wild adults of similar size. Broodstocks of about 8 years old and averaging 6 kg produce 3-4 million eggs.
