Friday, April 15, 2016

BFAR allocates P42M for 15 CFLCs in Davao Region in 2016.

MATI CITY– The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has allocated P42M for the establishment of at least 15 Community Fish Landing Center (CFLCs) in the Davao Region for  2016.
“The CFLCs will be established in strategic areas nationwide particularly in fisherfolk communities with high poverty incidence with the goal of promoting inclusive growth in one of the country’s poorest sector,” BFAR Davao Region Director Fatma Idris said.
The CFLC, which aims to reduce post-harvest losses in the fisheries sector to 18% from the present 25% is part of BFAR’s umbrella program known as Targeted Actions to Reduce Poverty and Generate Economic Transformation (TARGET). Among the three programs under TARGET are the fisherfolk registration, Boat Registration and the CFLC.
Fishermen usually bring their abundant fish catch along the shores and make use of what’s available including large stones to cut the fish before selling them to the community.This practice is however far from ideal under Republic Act 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013 which was enacted to strengthen the food safety regulatory system in the country to protect consumer health and facilitate market access of local foods and food products.
But with the establishment of the CFLC will allow the fisherfolk to bring their fish harvest in a clean facility where the fish will be kept clean and fresh.
The Center will be equipped with 10 stainless steel tables and two chest freezers to ensure that the fish harvest is properly preserved so the fisherfolk can sell them at a higher price.
The CFLC in Mati City is the first in the Davao Region. It has a construction cost of P2.85 Million. Four more CFLCs in the region are undergoing construction in Lupon, Banaybanay, Boston and Governor Generoso all in Davao Oriental but this one will be a model CFLC for all. Two CFLCs were turned over to two municipalities in Oriental Mindoro last month.
Up to 252 CFLCs all over the country have been included in last year’s budget and majority are in the construction stage. Up to 271 more Centers will be built this year and almost the same number by 2017 to achieve BFAR’s target of putting up CFLCs in strategic areas along the 928 coastal cities and municipalities across the country including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Mati CFLC opens

The opening of the Community Fish Landing Center (CFLC) in Barangay Mayo in Mati, Davao Oriental is expected to provide more opportunities for the fisherfolk in the area. 

“The fisherfolk will be able to bring their fish harvest in a clean facility where the fish will kept clean and fresh,” Benjamin F. S. Tabios, Jr., assistant director for administrative services of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said during the launch and blessing of the facility.

The P2.85-million CFLC is the first in the Davao Region, and four more are under construction in the municipalities of Lupon, Banaybanay, Boston, and Governor Generoso, all in Davao Oriental. 

BFAR has allocated P42 million for at least 15 CFLCs in the Davao Region in 2016. A total of 252 CFLCs nationwide were included in the government’s 2015 budget, and majority are now under construction.

For this year, 271 have been lined up, and about the same number are planned for 2017. BFAR aims to put up CFLCs near or in 928 coastal cities and municipalities across the country.

“The CFLCs will be established in strategic areas nationwide, particularly in fisherfolk communities with high poverty incidence, with the goal of promoting inclusive growth in one of the country’s poorest sectors,” BFAR Davao Region Director Fatma M. Idris said.

Idris said the facilities are seen to help bring down post-harvest losses in the fisheries sector to 18% from the present 25%, under BFAR’s umbrella program, Targeted Actions to Reduce Poverty and Generate Economic Transformation (TARGET).

Aside from the CFLCs, the two other major components of TARGET are the fisherfolk registration and boat registration projects.

BFAR National Director Asis G. Perez earlier said the CFLC sites were determined using the fisherfolk database and the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture of the Department of Budget and Management, with the assistance of the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

Tabios said all the CFLCs will have similar costs, but there will be three basic design options, depending on the community’s requirements.

The centers are also intended as multi-purpose buildings that can be used for skills and livelihood training, or even as a tourist attraction.

“This is especially true for the CFLC in Barangay Mayo, which could be a good tourist attraction because of its ideal location just along the shore,” he said.

Erlinda D. Ali, BFAR provincial fisheries officer in Davao Oriental, said the Mayo CFLC will initially be run by the local government, but members of the community will be trained to eventually take over the management.

Mayo Barangay Chairman Noel V. Alo, for his part, said they are committed to “nurture the project” and will make use of the center to come up with other projects that will benefit the fishing community.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Balete bay red tide alert lifted

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Davao region has lifted the red tide alert covering Balete Bay in Mati City, Davao Oriental.

BFAR Davao Region Fish Production Chief Raul Millana said water sampling earlier this month showed that shellfish from the bay turned out negative of parasitic poisoning.Thus, he said, shellfish from the bay are now safe for consumption.

Millana said the toxicity caused by an overgrowth in aquatic microorganisms called “dinoflagellates” has decreased to safe levels. The death of the microorganisms which triggered the phenomenon known as algal bloom could have resulted from the drought, he added.

However, BFAR Davao Region Director Fatma Idris said that if not addressed, the siltation which caused the overgrowth of microorganisms will continue to trigger the red tide in Balete Bay.

The result of the latest water sampling on Balete Bay was released on March 19, more than three weeks after the release of an earlier test that showed the bay was still affected by red tide. BFAR Davao Region and the local government of Mati City conducted a weekly sampling to ensure the safety of the waters.

“We have sampling stations there and the previous laboratory results showed high toxicity in Balete Bay,” Millana said.

Balete Bay was listed as safe, along with six other bays in Mindanao such as Dumaguillas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur, Tantanang Bay in Zamboanga Sibugay, Murdelagos in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental, and Hinatuan, Bislig, and Lianga Bays in Surigao del Sur.(lac)


Monday, March 14, 2016

Fingerlings shortage worry Mindanao fish farmers

The shortage of fingerlings, which comes as a result of erratic temperatures brought about by El Niño, has started to worry fisherfolk in Mindanao.

The Alcantara Group’s Finfish Hatcheries, Inc., which exports as well as supplies more than 50% of the country’s total requirements for bangus (milkfish) fry, has been experiencing lower production with their brood stock laying fewer eggs.

Rene Bocaya, Finfish national sales manager, said their 12,000 brood stock at the 50-hectare hatchery in Sarangani normally delivers 1.5 million bangus fry per month. In January this year, however, it was down to only 29 million, of which 13 million went to Mindanao, 10 million to the Visayas and six million to Luzon. The situation is stressing the hatchery’s business model because the bangus fry business supports other operations.

“One product that sustains us is our bread and butter, the bangus fry, so if we can produce this it can help subsidize the high value species,” he said, adding that they are hoping that they volume will improve this month with adjustments in production.

Bocaya said there is still a “big gap between demand and supply of high-value species” though he gave no details.

In Panabo City, Davao del Norte, the Regional Fisheries Training Center (RFTC) Employees Cooperative is now operating only five out of its 18 fish enclosures due to the limited fingerling supply.

The cooperative has a 46-hectare fishpond in Tagum City solely for fingerling production.

Alberto C. Lanojan, RFTC manager, said the organization is also putting on hold plans to expand the Bangus Sugba Kilaw (BSK) Restaurant, which is a good revenue earner for the cooperative.

The restaurant, which also sells bottled and processed bangus, needs up to 3.7 metric tons of bangus per month.

“We are eyeing the expansion of the BSK Restaurant in Tagum, but we are also considering if we can meet the additional demand given the situation now,” Lanojan said.  BSK Restaurant sources all of its bangus supply from RFTC’s fish cages located at the Panabo Mariculture Park.

Andrew M. Ventura, chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Regional National Mariculture Center (NMC), said the NMC too has been facing lower production.

“There is a very limited supply of bangus and high-value species fry and fingerling and garungan (juveniles that weigh 30 to 50 grams),”  Ventura said.

More than 1,500 hectares of brackish water ponds in the Davao Region have been developed to support the mariculture parks and zones with an estimated fry requirement of about 240 million.

Ventura said only about 50% or 1,380 marine fish cage livelihood projects in the region have been stocked with bangus garungan during the first two months of the year.

The five mariculture parks and eight mariculture zones in the region contribute about 60% to local food security and the fish cages cover 47% of the total employment in the mariculture industry with 1,210 fisherfolk as caretakers, based on BFAR data.

Ventura said the government aims to address the situation through the Comprehensive National Fisheries Industry Development Plan (CNFIDP) Assessment, which was launched in February this year.

“For this year the CNFIDP targets an increase in the production of milkfish (4%), tilapia (6%), shrimp (10%), seaweed (25%), shellfish (10%) and mud crab (5.4%),” he said.

The BFAR-NMC met last month with private bangus and high-value species operators and producers to discuss the fry shortage.


Ventura said they are still aiming to improve overall supply beginning this year through coordinated investments in propagation facilities, institutionalizing good aquaculture practices for key commodities, optimizing the operation of mariculture parks, and ensuring climate and disaster resilience of the aquaculture sector, among others.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Family gets support from BFAR XI, thrives on seaweed business


The family of Vilma Albarico, a fisherfolk from Punta Biao in Davao del Sur, received seaweed propaguls from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) XI in 2004 allowing them to expand our seaweed farm.

Albarico the only livelihood she and her family knew was related to the bounties of the sea. Having been raised by a family who did not only lived near the sea but who also relied on fishing for their livelihood, she has learned to embrace the waters and passed this on to her children.

"While my family fished these waters, we started seaweed farming a long time ago as an alternate livelihood to add to the family income," Albarico said in an interview. At that time, she had little capital which she used to buy seaweed propagules to start with seaweed farming.

Albarico and the other seaweed farmers in the area, consider the sea is a blessing because it allows them to engage in fishing and seaweed farming for free, for as long as they took care of the waters by keeping it clean and debris-free.

Seaweed farming for these folks means making use of a thick twine rope that can withstand the wear and tear of the water and changing weather conditions, which is then tied in the middle of the sea using a makeshift stand that can float at a depth of 15 fathoms. The seaweed propagules are then cut into a standard length depending on their target harvest period and then secured on the rope.

"Very early in the morning the whole family (including her four children) is a work day for us because once the seaweeds are set on the rope then we also need to check on them after planting," she said.

Albarico said seaweed propagules cut in the regular size of at least three inches could be harvested within 20-25 days. If there is an order we have to meet at a set date then we just cut the seaweeds longer and they will be ready for harvest in two weeks, she added.

"One line of rope could yield two to three sacks of seaweeds with up to 60 kilos per sack," she said. The seaweeds, which is commonly known in the market as "guso" sells at P7 per kilo.

She said seaweeds can thrive once planted but they are wary of thieves in the community who steal the seaweeds especially when prices in the market are high.  They also have to contend with seaweed diseases such as "ice ice" which is a condition caused by changes in the water's salinity and temperature. This disease produces a moist substances that induces whitening of the seaweeds and attracts bacteria in the water. When taken for granted, she said, this will lead to the detachment of the seaweed from the rope which means losses for the farmers.

"When our seaweed farms are attacked by the ice ice disease then this is when we need the support of government especially in terms of the seaweed propagules," she said.

Albarico is a member of the Punta Biao Fisherfolk Association consisting of 45 groups with at least five members per group. While most of them are into seaweed farming, she said there is a plan under the Department of Trade and Industry's Bottom Up Budgeting to invest P700,000 for a seaweed processing plant in the area.


"Demand for guso is always high in the market not only for food but also for industries that process the seaweeds into candies and even chips," she said. Nothing goes to waste, she added, since she dries the damaged guso which she sells at P50 per kilo.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Duterte files CoC for Davao City Mayor

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has just filed his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for mayor, far from the expectation that he will run for president now that his daughter Sara Carpio has given her blessing.

Duterte's  CoC was handed over to the Commission on Elections (Comelc) at 2:40 p.m. by his Chief Executive Assistant Christopher Lawrence “Bong”  Go and City Administrator Melchor Quitain.

Go's shirt carried Duterte's message to his supporters which read: “Sinabi ko na, ayaw ko. Ang titigas ng ulo niyo”.

A political strategist of Duterte earlier admitted the last-ditch efforts are being done by Duterte’s family, friends and supporters to convince him to run for president even after his latest public announcement that he has no ambition to become president.

“Yes, I am confirming that following the latest public announcement of Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte that his options were retirement or staying on as Mayor, there were frantic efforts by people close to the family to save the Presidential dream,” former Governor Emmanuel Piñol wrote in his Facebook account Tuesday.

Piñol said he does not want to raise false hopes “but I would consider myself extremely insensitive if I do not share with the millions of Filipinos the latest updates on the Duterte Presidency.”

“And the efforts appear to be paying off,” he said, with his daughter Sara posting positive lines in her social media account that seemed to endorse Duterte’s presidency.

He said that as of yesterday, it appeared that things were going smoothly and that the family could settle the question on who would take over the leadership of the city. While Duterte is pushing Sara to run for mayor, there is always a possibility that Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte would take over considering Sara’s continued refusal to be lured back to politics.

“Everything seems to be falling into proper places and even Duterte's bitter political enemies in the City, the Nograleses, appear to be helpful in resolving the problem,” he said.

Congressman Karlo Nograles, son of former speaker Prospero Nograles filed his CoC for Congress Monday, putting to rest rumors that he would challenge the Duterte’s hold at City Hall.

“The only issue that is going to be addressed now would be the question raised by Mayor Duterte himself when we were almost at the verge of convincing him to backtrack from his earlier pronouncements rejecting the Presidency and announcement that he was heeding the people's call,” he said.

He said Duterte was worried about the people’s reaction if “after saying twice (thrice including Monday's press conference) that I would not run for President, I suddenly face the people and say Ok, I'm running?,"

“I assured Mayor Duterte that the only people who would not like to see you backtrack from your earlier pronouncements would be the people who don't like you to become President," Piñol said.”I told him that there would be a greater number of Filipinos who would prefer that he changes his mind and declares that he was yielding to the call of the people,” he added.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Davao's Badjao fisherfolk proving Bucana is not just a warzone

Fishing is almost effortless for Carleo  D. Arquillano, Purok Leader of St. John in Bucana and his fellow fishrfolk who, with the help of non-government organization Mindanao Land (MinLand) and the Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), erected early this month a 14-feet deep fish coral known locally as “bungsod”, a few meters away from the shoreline.  Made of bamboo, net and nylon, the bungsod traps the fish that dare to venture near the municipal waters.
 
“Our first harvest yielded around 50 kilos of herring (tamban), slipmouth fish and bigeye trevally,” Arquillano said.  For the past two days’ harvest, they were able to raise P3,000 which will go to the coffers of the DAPSA Fisherfolk Association. The wives of their members sell the fish to the nearby areas and if there is a surplus, it is sold to the traders who bring it to the market.

Bgy. Bucana has gained notoriety in the city because of its reputation as a lair of illegal drug peddlers.  However, Arquillano said they are trying to change this by organizing volunteers to monitor and dissuade drug users and dealers in the area. 
The effort seems to be paying off, he said, but they are still faced with the problem of poverty which they hope to remedy through the establishment of various livelihood programs in the barangays such as fishing. 

The area is considered one of the success stories of MinLand which identified the Badjaos in the area for their community governance and disaster resiliency project. Of the almost 2,837 purok population with 900 households, there is an estimated 70 Badjao households.  

“A study by the city show that the number one hazard faced by the city is flooding and the Davao River facing Bucana is one of the coastal communities usually affected by flooding,” Miraflor Austria, MinLand Urban-Project Team Leader said. Out of the seven watersheds in the city, the Davao River has been identified as the most critical.

Austria said the Badjaos immediately asked for a banga so they can fish but MinLand encouraged them to shift to other methods of fishing and to adopt new fishing technologies since “they have been used to the pana-pana method which may no longer be feasible now given climate change and the reduced marine resources.” 

“We always experience flooding here not only when there are typhoons but even during monsoons,” said Francesso Bantayan, a trisikad driver who has lived in the area for most of his life. 

While the seasonal reverses of the wind can be scary and inconvenient for the community, he said they have become accustomed to this way of life. He said he would grab any offer of relocation but said it has to be where they can continue with their livelihood. 

The community tried to plant mangroves along the shoreline to protect them from monsoons and typhoons but almost all the trees they planted were wiped out by strong winds and the waves which came with sand due to the siltation in the area. 
“MidLand formed a group of Badjaos and gave them an incentive to plant the mangroves which we provided,” said Milagros Nakahara, Environmental Management Specialist of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office.

 Nakahara said they planted one hectare with mangroves in November 2014 but only survived for a year. Only one mangrove has been left standing and this too is in danger because the informal settlers have erected structures near the tree.  

Jose Longno of the City Fishery Office said rehabilitation of the mangroves is out of the question because the area is not really feasible for planting mangroves. He suggested the planting of Malibago trees which have been existing in the area for years since it seems to be the most resilient tree given the nature of the location. 

“We also need to declare the area as a fish landing area so that we can protect it from future claimants and from informal settlers,” Punong Barangay Rolando Trajera said. There is also a need to delineate the area and to limit the number of bungsod considering that other people would want to take advantage of the fish catch.

BFAR XI Regional Director Fatma idris said the increasing fish population in the area shows that the yearly declaration of the Closed Season for Pelagic Fishes in the Davao Gulf from June to August is very effective. Davao City ordinance No. 093-08, also known as the Fisheries Code of Davao City, already prohibits the “Catching or selling of Juvenile Fishery Species or Gravid Spawners” even without the Closed Season. Open fishing season in the region has been declared for the months of September to May.

The Closed Season in the Davao Gulf has been implemented only for the past twoyears but has reportedly increased the fish catch in the region by 26% from September to December in 2014 compared to the same period last year. BFAR data shows that the fish catch of the municipal fisherfolk versus the commercial fishers has increased from 25-75 percent prior to the implementation of the Closed Fishing Season to 34-66 percent after the Closed Season.

BFAR National Director Asis Perez said an increase in the country’s fish catch can be expected with the implementation of Republic Act 10654 or the Amended Fisheries Code of the Philippines which became effective on October 10, 2015. Mr. Perez said the implementation of the Amended Fisheries Code will also strengthen the country's fight against Illegal, Unreported and Uncontrolled Fishing (IUUF).


Araw ng Dabaw Tattoo Fest 2024 organizers eye tattoo industry as next tourist attraction

Tattoos have come a long way in the Philippines. From being frowned upon, tattoos are now considered art and a form of self-expression.   Da...