PHILIPPINES: PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the construction of fish ports in 11 coastal provinces to address challenges faced by fisherfolk.
Marcos issued the directive during his meeting with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) which tackled the challenges of fish supply and demand.
Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the President's order will "capacitate and empower fisherfolks towards resiliency, decrease post-harvest losses through upgrading/fixing/construction of cold storage facilities in fish posts across the country." The President also directed the concerned government agencies to provide small-scale fisherfolks with ice-making machines and other equipment as well as intensive training. He also ordered the rehabilitation of 20 identified municipal fish ports tagged as traditional landing ports.
The BFAR said fish spoilage is between 25 and 40 percent because of the shortage in post-harvest equipment like blast freezers and ice-making machines as well as facilities like cold storage warehouses and fish landing sites. Marcos also ordered putting up cold storage facilities to address declining fishery production and reduce post-harvest losses.
The President said that if the country can lower the spoilage rate to between 8 and 10 percent, the Philippines will no longer depend on imported fish.
He said the plan is to build 11 more cold storage facilities on top of those already being constructed in various ports in the cities of General Santos and Cagayan de Oro. These facilities are expected to be operational by the end of this year.
Marcos, who also sits as secretary of the Department of Agriculture, underscored the need to improve aquaculture by modernizing the fishponds to boost production. " The biggest problem we saw was the provision of credit to fishermen, which they could use to improve their fishponds," the President said.
"Another thing is conversion to fish cage, which has bigger production. We need that kind of technology, and we should allot funds for new equipment, supplies for our fishermen," he added.
The President said they are also looking at mariculture to bolster the country's food security and fish output. Mariculture or marine farming is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other animal products, in enclosed sections of open ocean, fish farms built on littoral waters, or in artificial tanks, ponds or raceways, which are filled with seawater.
Source: The Manila Times