Tuesday, March 06, 2007 Sarangani, Gensan fishers get 'payao'
GLAN, Sarangani -- Regional office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Bfar) is delivering 50 fish aggregating device or locally known as "payao" to 50 coastal barangays of General Santos City and Sarangani Province in order to increase catches of the small-time fishermen.
On board m/v Bfar, the payaos from Manila are being dropped in the waters of the municipalities of Maitum, Kiamba, Maasim, Malapatan, Glan and the city of General Santos starting March 1.
"The 50 payaos, amounting to P5 million, aimed to provide additional income to the local fisherfolks of General Santos City and Sarangani Province," Sani G. Macabalang, Bfar-Southwestern Mindanao regional director.
He said the project is in line with the advocacy of the Provincial Government of Sarangani to alleviate the poor living condition of the marginalized sectors of the province like the small-time fishermen.
Payao is a floating device, which looks like a shelter for the marine creatures, thus schools of fishes are attracted to it. Fishermen can catch fishes behind the payao using hook and line or nets.
Bfar discourages the use of fine meshed nets since it catches even smaller fishes, which is illegal. The use of fine meshed nets in fishing has been the problem of authorities in Sarangani Province. (JCK)
