By Angeline Valencia
An exactly symbolic gesture of addressing the scarcity of supply and degradation of quality of Tilapia, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Regional Director Andres Bojos led local staff in the ceremonial dispersal of at least 525,000 Genetically Enhanced Tilapia Excel (Get Excel) fingerlings to the Bohol ’s largest dam in Bayongan, San Miguel on Thursday last week.
Additional fingerlings will be dispersed this week to meet the targeted 700,000 Get Excel Tilapia fingerlings that BFAR and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) intend to grow in Bayongan Dam as pioneering batch.
The activity was among the highlights in the local complement of BFAR’s year-long 60th anniversary celebration.
Joining BFAR in the event was NIA led by its assistant manager, Engr. Felipe Delima and administrative officer, Clarin former mayor Trifon Sanchez.
BFAR-Bohol Provincial Chief Chris Pahamutan, BFAR-Ubay Chief Dionisio Colantro, BFAR Planning Officer Gloria Olavides, BFAR staff Jenny Mayol, Ubay Brackish Water Fish Farm Production Chief Antonio Pillotes, Farm Administrator Roselle Hilot, Farm Finance Officer Francisca Aratan,
BFAR’s Fisheries Extension and Training Division Chief Tiburcio Donaire served as moderator in the interaction between BFAR and Bayongan barangayfolk.
During the short interaction, Director Bojos announced that BFAR will be providing Get Excel fingerlings for free to neophyte Tilapia pond operators.
This is to encourage more farmers to go into Tilapia culture for the local supply pool to meet the demand.
In Bohol , Candido Samijon operates the Tilapia Central Hatchery in barangay Caluasan, Clarin.
Based on the 2002 data of BFAR, Central Visayas region needs 5,416 metric tons of Tilapia, while only 103 metric tons were produced which means a deficit by 5,313 metric tons.
Bojos explained that residents in barangay Bayongan and the neighboring barangays of Canmanaga, Sto. Niño, Buenavista, and San Isidro can fish from Bayongan Dam for their household consumption when the fingerlings mature in a few months.
It would only be for their own benefit, that they would cooperate in the measures to be drafted for the sustainability of the program which is an extension of the Aquasilvi Culture Project of the Ubay Brackish Water Fish Farm in Sitio Son-oc, barangay Poblacion, Ubay.
Also, with alternative stock of fish, fishermen in the areas covered by the Bayongan Dam would tend to deviate from illegal fishing activities in the seawaters nearby.
This proves one of the indirect benefits that the Bayongan giant dam extends, aside from providing millions of cubic meters of water to irrigate the croplands of 3,549 farmers in the neighboring towns including Ubay, and Trinidad.
Sanchez, for his part, said that though NIA has a memorandum of agreement with the municipal government of San Miguel to consider the dam as one of the sources of drinking water for the residents in the town, they still have to come up with measures to make the stock of water in the dam safe for the households, considering the technology adopted for the Tilapia culture.
On the other hand, San Miguel Municipal Councilor Victor Boncales, chairman of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) Committee on Fisheries and Agriculture, said he is tasked to draft an ordinance regulating activities at the dam, including possible fishing and activities of visitors as it has been observed that the dam has started to attract tourists.
Former Bayongan barangay captain Carlos Narisma expressed concern on the necessity of the regulatory ordinance for the sustainability of the project.
Among the concerns facing BFAR’s Tilapia project are degradation of quality fingerling stocks due to inbreeding, insufficient supply of quality tilapia fry in far flung areas, high cost of farm inputs and poor quality feeds, lack of manpower to effectively transfer technology to the municipal level, marketing layers between producer and consumer, and lost opportunities to participate in global market for value-added products.
The government developed and launched the Get Excel Tilapia “to further increase tilapia production in the country, increase income and provide livelihood opportunities among local fisherfolks.
The establishment of central hatcheries in strategic areas nationwide assured the success of this intervention, according to BFAR.
Bojos also announced that BFAR will hold the 44th Fish Conservation Week on the third week of October.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=4901.0
Topic: 500,000 Tilapia fingerlings released to Bayongan Dam (Read 7417 times)