Saturday, March 04, 2006
Fish growing sans feeding expenditure
LUTAYAN, Sultan Kudarat -- Tilapia and milkfish (bangus) teem in this sleepy, predominantly Muslim town in the middle of rolling hills and with a sprawling lake so richly endowed with nature's bounty.
And here's the catch: the fishes are grown naturally, with no feedings whatsoever, saving operational costs for growers.
One particular company, Lutayan Fish Farm, is raking in millions of pesos from Lake Buluan, an estimated 17,000-hectare inland body of water besides this town and that of Buluan in Maguindanao.
"We just let the fish loose in their pens maintained on a daily basis," said Don Fresco, Lutayan Fish sales monitoring officer.
The company's record catches for one piece of tilapia weighs two kilos and for milkfish, three kilos, all in the absence of commercial feedings. The fishes thrive on algae and whatever that is supplied by the lake.
Lutayan Fish is a joint endeavor of Mayor Raden Sakaluran and Sonny Lao, a businessman in nearby Koronadal City whose family is into shopping mall venture.
The powerful political clan of the Mangudadatus largely controls fishing ventures in Lake Buluan, with some affluent families in the province and South Cotabato also drawn into the fish pen business.
Governor Pax Mangudadatu and son, Representative Suharto Mangudadatu, are said to own vast hectares of fish pens in the lake.
Sakaluran is a son-in-law of Pax, who once served the town as mayor, and so his son Suharto.
The partnership of Sakaluran and Lao began in 2001 after taking over the venture from a Korean national who pioneered tilapia growing in the center of the lake in 1998.
Before the Korean's venture, fish growing was largely concentrated at the lake's bank, giving the product a fetid taste due to the muddy environment. Because of it, no one then would patronize the town's tilapias.
But since the pens were transferred deeper into the lake, the taste of the tilapia has vastly improved.
Fresco said their produce is now widely distributed across key urban cities in Mindanao.
With 10-wheeler trucks in tow, wholesale buyers from Bukidnon and the cities of Cagayan, Iligan, General Santos, Davao, and Tagum have been lining the unloading point last Saturday.
Lutayan Fish maintains 10 pens deep in the lake, with each pen measuring 20 to 25 hectares. A pen could produce a total of 100 tons of tilapia and bangus.
Tilapia and bangus fingerlings are dropped together in a holding area rounded by a fine-meshed net. For two to three months they stayed there before being released into the pen made of bamboo poles and then left for good until harvest time.
"They live harmoniously and after eight to ten months, they are harvested," Fresco said.
For being in the business this long, Lutayan Fish was able to program its farming system that allowed them harvest at least twice a week, ensuring a steady supply for the market demand.
Fresco said they have established a loyal following among wholesale buyers who are served on a first-come, first-serve basis all year round.
Among the clients of these buyers are the well-established Gaisano Mall and Makro in Davao City.
Mature tilapia and bangus are harvested and loaded to a barge with a capacity of 20-tons owned by the company. The firm has two other large boats as well as a number of pumpboats and bancas.
On a weekly basis, the firm sells an estimated P1.7 million tilapia and bangus.
But not only tilapia and bangus thrive in the pens of Lutayan Fish. A carp variety known as "Bagong Lipunan," so called because it was a project of former First Lady Imelda Marcos, is also produced by the company.
Bagong Lipunan, which could weigh to as much as 25 kilos as sworn by residents, is sold by the firm also to their loyal wholesale buyers at P27 per kilo.
Fish fingerlings are not a problem to Lutayan Fish as it has an existing hatchery and nursery located in the town. At one time, the company was able to drop some one million fries to a pen.
To ensure the fishes stay inside the pens, divers monitor the fences on a daily basis for holes. The monitoring activity, though considered backyard as divers take oxygen from a compressor off a boat, also works in determining if diseases hit the fishes.
Basically, the operating expenses of the company go to the wages of more than 20 regular employees and fuel for the boats, said Fresco.
The town is also earning from the lake-based fishing industry. For every kilo that is sold at the unloading station called "dunguan," 50 centavos go to the coffers of the local government unit as tax.
"The buyers would not be allowed to leave the area if they would not pay the tax. A ticket is given to them to prove that they have paid local taxes," Fresco said.
Lutayan Fish also allows an allied industry to flourish. An ice plant supplies Lutayan fish dealers and traders to ensure the freshness of their produce.
"When we started, we are the ones marketing the products. But lately, we no longer distribute. Wholesale buyers come to us and they are the ones who dispose it off to the markets," Fresco said.
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(February 27, 2006 issue)
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