Aquaculture in dams, protected areas pushed

MANILA, Philippines — Allowing aquaculture to flourish in dams and certain protected areas is expected to boost food security and stabilize prices amid rising prices of pork and chicken.

In a virtual briefing, agricultural advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan said the government should review current regulations for investors to secure long term permits to make use of dams for aquaculture.

Tugon Kabuhayan convenor Asis Perez said boosting aquaculture is important as this would serve as stabilizer of prices considering that about 66 percent of the total protein requirement of Filipinos comes from fish.

“Dams should be multipurpose, they have hydroelectric power and this can be used to grow fish. There are existing efforts from the private sector, but the governance system is too complex,” Perez said.

Bangus and tilapia are among the major aquaculture commodities. Galunggong, on the other hand, is part of the captured fisheries.

Latest price monitoring showed that the price of galunggong hovers from P200 to P280 per kilogram compared to tilapia and bangus, which are only priced from P120 to P170 a kilo.

Perez said aquaculture in dams and protected areas is a new idea and there are many interested private firms that are already submitting proposals to concerned agencies.

“But there are challenges we need to address. Some regulators have yet to see the potential of aquaculture as an anchor for food security. The government has to fully realize that so there can be openness to facilitate,” Perez said.

“Another stumbling block would be the fees. For one, a protected area would charge P65,000 per cage per year while in most areas, it’s just P12,000. That should be reconciled if we want to encourage investments in aquaculture,” he said.

Among the dams and bodies of water that are viable for aquaculture include the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, San Roque Dam in Pangasinan, Lake Mainit on the border of Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Sur, Lake Danao in Leyte, and Saranggani Bay among others.

However, the process is going to be tedious as these fall under the jurisdiction of several parties including the National Irrigation Administration, Protected Area Management Board, local government units and the power companies.

“There are several policy approaches and concerns for biodiversity. We have to justify why they should allow and how to enforce the right regulations to have the proper investments,” Perez said.