Aquaculture offers hope for sufficient fish supply

Generations of massive extraction and even wasteful exploitation of the world’s oceans and seas have caused the rapid decimation in the fishery resources and despoliation of fish habitat, the coral reefs.

As a result, prices of fishery products in the world have skyrocketed leaving much of the world’s demand for fish protein unmet.

In fact, Rome-based Food and Aquaculture Organization projected that 29 percent of the world’s requirement for fishery product will come mostly from aquaculture (inland fishery) for the next five years rising to 50 percent after that.

In the Philippines, the growth of aquaculture’s contribution to total fish supply was 10.6 percent of 2001’s 3.1 million metric tons, followed by municipal fisheries with 4.4 percent and last by commercial fisheries with 4 percent. In terms of ratio, aquaculture accounted for 35 percent, followed by municipal fisheries at 33 percent and commercial fisheries at 32 percent.

At the recently -held Fish Talk forum of the Philippine Agricultural Journalists and the Fishery Resources Management Project, Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said that in the next 10 years, the country will achieve its "ideal" ratio of 50 percent aquaculture-sourced fish supply of total production.

A shift in thrust

BFAR has been implementing since the early 60s an aquaculture development program that was focused on breeding on inland fish species starting from the African breed to bigger breeds.

But since six years ago, BFAR shifted its thrust from mere fish breeding to what is now called aquaculture for rural development, which is fish propagation for small communities to help municipal fisherfolk augment their incomes through better "harvest" of fish. Such small fish farming projects now account for an improved quality of life in erstwhile marginal fishing communities in the country. It also steered fishermen away from the seas–to help these resources replenish themselves overtime–to inland waters.

Another program that BFAR and its attached agency, the Fishery Resources Management Project (FRMP), is implementing is the fish sanctuary project in many coastal areas where coral reefs have been degraded by overfishing and destructive fishing methods. Four of these sanctuaries can be found in Quezon province.

Aquaculture projects have in themselves evolved — from a simple fishpond endeavor to the more sophisticated and investment—intensive sea cage in marine culture (mariculture) parks that produce saline waters species, Sarmiento said.

Only last November, President Arroyo and the DA launched Asia’s first ever mariculture park in Samal Island, Davao. The park covers a total of 200 hectares, which is equally divided into 50 hectares (a fourth of which is reserved for the BFAR techno farm and its adjoining area of sea cages of municipal fishermen, whose catching activities have been limited by the mariculture park). Sarmiento said three other parks will be set up this year: two in Zambales (Subic and Masinloc) and one in Puerto Princesa. Next year, another four mariculture parks will be set up by BFAR, mostly in the Visayas.

Attracting investments

Because of the huge investment needed in such mariculture parks – and in view of an expected shrinkage in the areas where commercial fishing operators can operate in – such mariculture parks are the best investment alternative for the commercial fishing operators.

The mariculture park in Samal Island for one has already enticed the largest fishing fleet operator, RBL fishing to pour money in setting up fish cages in 50 hectares of the parks.

Alonso Tan, president of the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federation Inc., said many of the commercial fishing operators are now looking at mariculture parks in place of their capital-intensive and uncertain fishing operations in deeper fishing areas.

With the adoption by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of its Administrative Order No. 17 – which delineates 15 kilometers from the municipal shoreline as areas of municipal fishermen only – commercial fleets are now forced to venture into the high seas and forge fishing privileges in the waters of Asian neighbors.

And since municipalities like Masbate in Region 4 and Antique have started officially delineating their municipal waters with the help of the DENR’s National Mapping Research and Information. Authority (NAMRIA), it is now a certainty that many more coastal municipalities will follow suit, thus areas for commercial fishing operators are expected to shrink substantially.

BFAR has projected a 10-percent growth in fishery production this year, following a bigger growth in the increased contribution to total fish supply of aquaculture and an expected harvest from mariculture parks in the country.

Advantages

The fishponds of the old days produced a single crop – milkfish (bangus) and required massive investments but had a yield of only 2.5 tons per hectare per cropping season.

On the other hand, mariculture parks can produce much more: output of two hectares of fishpond in only 12 x 12 meters of sea cages or at 10 percent of the cost of fishponds while retaining the natural mangrove habitat of bangus.

Moreover, species that can be raised inside the fish cages in mariculture parks can be varied such as groupers (lapulapu), samaral, apahap, and sergeant fish.

The average depth of mariculture parks is 40 to 60 meters while the depth of sea cages is only 10 meters.

Giving fisherfolk more say

Municipal fishermen never had more power in their lives than now, or after the enactment of Republic Act 8550 (Fisheries Code 1998), which required the formation of FARMCs (fisheries and agriculture resources management councils) in the municipal, provincial, regional process.

National FARMC representative Charles Capricho said fisherfolk have been advising local government units on proper management and regulation of water and fishery resources. However, many local government units (LGUs) do not heed their advice as shown in the recent massive fish kill in Bolinao, Pangasinan.

"We can tell an El Nino or red tide even before they occur and we advise the LGUs in advance but many of them – thinking we are just small fishermen – do not take our advice seriously," Capricho said.

Fisherfolk never had it so good as when the DENR issued AO 17, which virtually gave them exclusive fishing rights on 15 kilometers from the municipal shorelines" For once, Capricho said, "we are now given more importance by this government than in the past."

10%increase

Sarmiento projects a 10-percent hike in this year’s fish production, from last year’s 3.1 million metric tons. And just like last year, the aquaculture sector will be the lead performer.

The fishery sector grew by 5.5 percent in 2001, of which 10.6 percent was the growth of aquaculture sector; 4.4 percent from municipal fishermen and four percent by the commercial sector.

Sarmiento projected that production would reach 3.2 million metric tons this year. He reported that output has steadily increased from 2.7 million metric tons in 1998 to 2.8 million MT in 1999; 2.9 million MT in 2000 and 3.1 million MT in 2001. Of this output, 35 percent came from aquaculture, 33 percent from municipal fisheries and 32 percent from commercial fisheries.

The setbacks of the aquaculture sector – which BFAR is trying to remedy – are the massive fishkill (like the one that hit Bolinao fish cages in Pangasinan early this year), pollution and farm mismanagement.

Sarmiento said aquaculture fishing has enabled the Philippines to reduce its dependence on the depleted marine fisheries while at the same time ensuring adequate supply of affordable fish to the people. — PAJ News & Features