Joseph Martin “Jhong” Borromeo, president of Philippine Association of Fish Producers, Inc. (PAFPI) has appealed to SEAFDEC to harmonize its R&D efforts to be industry-focused towards improvement of fish production.
Borromeo was the keynote speaker during the weeklong celebration of SEAFDEC/AQD’s 45th anniversary. Held at the Multipurpose Hall, Mr. Borromeo lamented the state of aquaculture industry saying that fish producers feel that they have been left on their own leading to low investors’ confidence.
Borromeo noted the following fish farmers’ concerns to make aquaculture sustainable: increasing survival; reducing cost of production; and mproving harvest in a shorter harvest period.
The strong control and manipulation of middlemen and limited post-harvest facilities remain to be the woes of the industry players. He also strongly stressed that the high cost of inputs need to be addressed because this is what that leave investors reluctant. It is in this context that he called on to SEAFDEC scientists to harmonize R&D efforts to impact the industry.
PAFPI is composed of players who are actively engaged in the aquaculture value chain, from input providers, farm producers, and support services, i.e. cold chain, logistics and financial services. It is the umbrella organization of aquaculture commodity associations, like the Philippine Milkfish Industry Group (PhilMig), High-Value Aquaculture of the Philippines (Hi-Vap) and Philippine Tilapia Stakeholders Association (PhilTilapia).
PAFPI is also a development partner of DA-BFAR in aquaculture. As such they advocate for the unified and collaborative approach to the opportunities and challenges of the aquaculture sector.
“We actively participate in efforts to ensure food security, while taking care of the environment and creating wealth, specifically in the rural coastal communities where we operate in”, Borromeo explained. “There is a need to establish Centers of Excellence for each focus commodity”, he added. In order to achieve the goals of PAFPI, Borromeo called on SEAFDEC/AQD to conduct R&D summit that will converge all government and private research institutions to come up with a harmonized strategy to improve fish production through sustainable aquaculture./PN
