Camarines Sur fishers get 80K tilapia fingerlings from BFAR

By Connie Calipay

LEGAZPI CITY --- The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region 5 (Bicol) on Wednesday gave some 80,000 tilapia fingerlings to a fisherfolk group in Bombon town, Camarines Sur province as part of its continuing efforts to revitalize the aquaculture industry.

Rowena Briones, BFAR-5 information officer, said the grant aims to increase productivity and eventually improve the living conditions of the fishers in the province.

“The 80,000 tilapia fingerlings were awarded to Bombon Fishpond Operators Association, a duly registered organization to the Department of Labor and Employment with 69 members,” she said in an interview on Thursday.

Briones said the fingerlings were sourced from the Buhi Freshwater Fish Farm and Nursery in Buhi, Camarines Sur and given as part of the Tilapia Techno Demo Project with a total cost of PHP1.4 million.

Aside from the juvenile fish, the fisherfolk also received pre-starter, starter, grower and finisher feeds. Their tentative harvest will be on February 2024.

In a statement, Nilo Consuelo, BFAR-5 production division chief, said the project under BFAR’s Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program is an integral initiative of the government to support the marginalized fisherfolk.

The SAAD Program Phase II aims to contribute to the reduction of poverty through the provision of fishery interventions to marginal fisherfolk. (PNA)

JUVENILE TILAPIA. The tilapia fingerlings given by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region 5 (Bicol) to a fishers’ group in Bombon, Camarines Sur on Wednesday (Oct. 11, 2023). The beneficiary also received pre-starter, starter, grower and finisher feeds. (Photo courtesy of BFAR Bicol)