WorldFish Center to strengthen Philippine aquaculture

 

 

The Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) has forged a deal with the WorldFish Center to intensify the capacity building programme for managers of the Regional Fisheries Research and Development Centers (RFRDC).

 

This agreement will also assist the Department of Agriculture (DA) in strengthening programmes being pursued by the National Agricultural Research System (NARS).

 

The WorldFish Center is one of the 15-member centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) with a mission of reducing poverty and hunger through research-for-development initiatives to improve the small-scale fisheries and aquaculture sector.

 

According to BAR director Nicomedes Eleazar, the activity is a major component of an ongoing project titled, "Strengthening Partnerships in Aquaculture and Fisheries Research in the Philippines."

 

Under this project, participants will be trained in partner institutions and project sites of the WorldFish Center and its network of agencies across Southeast Asia.

 

With the increasing population, globalisation and a threatened resource base due to climate change, the fishing industry is slowly turning its attention to fishermen and stakeholders, particularly the smallholders.

 

According to the WorldFish Center, ''Climate change creates new challenges to the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture systems, with serious implications for the 520 million people who depend on them for their livelihoods and the nearly three billion people for whom fish is an important source of animal protein."

 

Through South-South collaboration, countries work together on shared problems such as threats from climate change and expand the opportunities for researchers working in developing countries.

 

Developing countries could help each other improve their indigenous capacity to generate, manage and use research and development (R&D) to address their specific needs.

 

The fisheries R&D investment in Thailand and Vietnam is high and long-term research activities are pursued to make sure that aquaculture productivity is sustained.

 

Private sector players also play a major role in the development of the fisheries sector since they dominate in marketing activities.

 

Aquaculture production in these two countries is assisted by private companies providing technical support particularly in feeds, water quality maintenance and animal health.

 

The Vietnamese government has put emphasis on aquaculture development and R&D institutions have been active in developing technologies in processing, quality control and hygiene management and the culture of high value fish species.