April 3, 2008

Philippines to construct more milkfish hatcheries

The Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) mulls to double milkfish (bangus) output in Eastern Visayas by putting up backyard hatcheries in Samar Island.

BFAR regional director Juan Albaladejo said the government will spend P1 million for the ten hatcheries that will be operated by the private sector. These are estimated to initially produce 3.6 million fries to lessen the country's dependence on imports from Indonesia and Taiwan.

Albaladejo also added that there are already milkfish mature enough to produce eggs which are ready for commercialization.

The fry can be transferred to fish ponds after two weeks which will ideally grow into fingerlings in two months.

According to Albaladejo, a two-month fingerling that is at least five inches long can be sold for P5 each.

Last year, fish cage operators at the 14 mariculture parks in the region produced 10,694.55 tonnes of milkfish, 20 percent more than the 2006 output of 8,783.83 tonnes.

The bulk of the milkfish produced comes from the mariculture park in San Juanico Strait where a fish cage yields an average of 10 tonnes of bangus a week during harvest.

Mariculture parks have been identified as ideal for fish production since fish cages are not easily destroyed by typhoons and seawater current is not prone to pollution.