BFAR upbeat on 14.4% fish production target

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Davao Region expressed confidence the country’s target increase of fish production of 14.4 percent from 2015 to 2020 can be achieved under the Duterte administration.

BFAR Regional Director Fatma Idris said the hike is expected to come from aquaculture interventions particularly on seaweeds, shellfish, food fishes and other high value species as indicated in the 2016-2020 Comprehensive Fisheries Industry Development Plan.

“Fish provides food, generates jobs and livelihoods, and contributes to the country’s Growth Development Product. The country’s fish supply are caught from the wild, farmed, or imported. To ensure self-sufficiency and self-reliance, measures to sustain fish production from the wild shall be institutionalized and fish farming intensified,” she said.

By 2020, Bfar eyes to achieve a 90.55 percent of fish sufficiency. As of October 24, Philippines has over 1.7 million registered fisher folks.

“The target is to cut poverty incidence among the fisher folks by 25 percent by 2020,” she said.

The social preparation for the 252 community fish landing centers (CFLCs) in the country is 80 percent done.

Idris said they target to finish all remaining social preparation activities for 252 sites nationwide by yearend to improve the socio-economic conditions of fisherfolk communities with high poverty incidence.

“We also intend to start with the 90 sites with Notice to Proceed for 2016 until March 2017,” she said.

The CFLCs, each costing P2.85 million, will house post-harvest equipment and tools that will enable fisherfolk to preserve the good quality of their fish and fishery products enabling them to sell at a higher price.

Local consumers will also benefit from the fish landing centers as they will have better access to safe and quality fishery commodities.

The facilities will also be opened as venues for skills trainings on disaster-resilient fisheries-based livelihoods and resource management such as monitoring fish catch and stock assessment.

Under the 2016-2020 Comprehensive Fisheries Industry Development Plan, Bfar targets to achieve 10 percent reduction in postharvest losses in five years from the present target at 18 percent.