ILOILO City – A total of 400,00 milkfish (bangus) fingerlings were distributed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to the fishpond and fish cage operators in Iloilo and Capiz out of the one million stock that will be given free to target beneficiaries in Western Visayas this year.
Some 155 fishpond and fish cage operators in the region will benefit from the distribution funded under the National Fisheries Program, BFAR regional director Remia Aparri said in an interview on Friday.
The volume of fingerlings given to a recipient depends on the area of their fishponds or fish cage but the maximum is 10,000.
For the initial release, Capiz received 200,000 fingerlings for its 40 recipients. On the other hand, Iloilo got 200,000 for 20 beneficiaries last month.
Succeeding distributions will be 100,000 fingerlings for 20 beneficiaries from Negros Occidental, while for Aklan and Guimaras, 250,000 each for 50 and 25 beneficiaries, respectively.
Antique was not included since BFAR has a technical outreach station or a fry bank in the province which produces fingerlings and being distributed to fishpond operators.
According to Aparri, the provision of fingerlings aims to increase fishpond productivity to boost fish sufficiency in the region.
“There are fishponds that are no longer operational. Through this, we can provide them with income once they operate,” she added.
The fingerlings are procured from contractors and BFAR hatcheries. A recipient is provided a maximum of 10,000 fingerlings depending on their area.
“They will be taking care of the stocks until they grow into marketable size as their counterpart. It’s an assistance of the government to the people to help increase their income and lessen their expenses,” Aparri said./PN
