CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — Emphasizing the importance of sustainable aquaculture by equipping fisherfolk organizations with the knowledge and tools necessary to enhance productivity, sustainability, and resilience within the fisheries sector, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-10 held its first Regional Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation Conference on July 31, here.
“Ang fisheries clustering and consolidation usa ka mahinungdanong lakang sa gobyerno aron matubag ang mga kalisdanan, panginahanglanon sa sektor sa pangisda sama sa share sa kapital, teknolohiya, ug bag-ong mga pamaagi. Pinaagi sa clustering, makabenepisyo kamo isip mga mangingisda sa mas efficient nga operasyon ug mas maayo nga presyo para sa inyong mga produkto,” said Marlou Fernandez, BFAR-10 assistant regional director.
(Fisheries clustering and consolidation is a significant step by the government to address the challenges and needs of the fishing sector, such as access to capital, technology, and new methods. Through clustering, you, as fisherfolk, can benefit from more efficient operations and better prices for your products.)
Thus, the event’s key topics included potential investments in production support, access to and availability of agri-credit and insurance for farmers to increase productivity and profitability, cooperative building, and improving value chains in the context of clustering and consolidation.
Additionally, the event highlighted emerging sustainable technologies in fisheries, providing participants with valuable insights into future trends in the industry.
Also helping BFAR-10 in addressing the fisherfolk’s concern, Norberto Chingcuanco, co-convenor of Tugon Kabuhayan, highlighted the immense potential of aquaculture, noting, “Ang akwakultura ay isang malaking pamamaraan na mas marami na ang pagkain. Every single factor that we improve will improve our production. Kailangan ang lahat ng postharvest natin pang-export at ayon sa EU standards.“
(Aquaculture is a significant method that produces more food. Every single factor that we improve will improve our production. All our postharvest processes must meet export and EU standards.)
One of the participants, Judie Mendez, underscored the importance of the technical and material support provided by BFAR, saying, “So far ang gihatag nga intervention dako kaayo’g ikatabang nato isip naa sa kooperatiba kay daghan kaayo ta’g makat-onan… gusto namo nga kooperatiba nga mag-market nami, musulod nami sa tawag nga kabalo nami sa marketing kay dili lang pwede nga lifetime nga nagsige ra mi og produce og kining mga commodity.”
(The intervention provided has been very helpful to us in the cooperative because we have learned so much… We want our cooperative to start marketing; we want to learn about marketing because we can’t just be producers of these commodities forever.)
For her part, Raquel Simborio, marketing chair of the Holy Trinity Fisherfolk Association in Sagay, Camiguin, said they are very grateful that Holy Trinity is one of the beneficiaries of this program becausethey have learned so much about processing their products and market matching.
She also looks forward to gaining more knowledge about expanding their business. “Kanang sa financial literacy, pag-hands on sa computer, murag ang mga katigulangan dili gyud kaayo kuha sa computer unya kanang mga digital nga publicity sa among product,” Simborioa added.
(We want a session on financial literacy and getting hands-on with the computer since our elderly members are not very familiar with the computer, and we also want to learn about the digital publicity of our products.)
Fernandez emphasized that the conference is an important step in empowering fisherfolk and their organizations, paving the way for a stronger and more profitable fisheries sector in the region. (RTP/PIA-10)
