MAASIN CITY (PIA) — Four fisherfolk organizations in three towns of Southern Leyte stand as beneficiaries of a World Bank-funded program following their submission of bangus fish cage project proposals to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
At the recent FishCORE roadshow in Sogod, the fisherfolk groups were identified as follows: Kapunongang Mananagat of Dinahugan, Padre Burgos; San Jose Fish Farm Association of Malitbog; Tinago United Fisherfolk Association of Tomas Oppus; and Nagkahiusang Mangingisda of Barangay Looc, also in Tomas Oppus.
FishCORE, which stands for Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resilience Project, is up for implementation for seven years, from 2023 to 2029, in which in Eastern Visayas, only the province of Southern Leyte, especially the 11 local government units surrounding Sogod Bay area, including Macrohon and Maasin City, can join, being part of BFAR’s Fishery Management Area 9.
As envisioned, the FishCORE project intends to offer alternate livelihood opportunities to fishers other than fishing in the seas, and this was seen as a way to let the seas take rest, especially from overfishing, as a strategy for a sustainable food security program of the government.
Dominador Maputol, OIC regional director of BFAR, said he would review the submitted projects so these can be prioritized for support under the FishCORE program by next year.
In a casual chat with the Philippine Information Agency Southern Leyte, he shared that he planned to make some strategic changes, like subdividing the 15-member team into five groups, each group with three members.
Each of the five groups will seed the bangus fry one at a time, every month, so that on the fifth month, the harvest time, harvesting will also be gradual by month, not a one-time harvest which would result to an abundant oversupply that could result to scarcity of end-user buyers.
Another approach is to have value-added impact to the harvest by displaying the harvested bangus in an aquarium, put-up something like a barbeque stand, with buyers the one choosing the bangus to be grilled.
Add some drinks and a videoke, then the newly-harvested bangus will have more value that is added, Maputol said. (MMP, PIA Southern Leyte)