PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Three mariculture parks are up for development in Palawan by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in partnership with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for fish culture and other products in the open sea.
BFAR Palawan chief Mario Basaya said Tuesday that mariculture parks will be established in Puerto Princesa City Bay and the municipal waters of Narra and Quezon in the southern part of the province.
Mariculture is the farming of aquatic plants and animals in salt water. The major categories of mariculture species are seaweeds, mollusks, crustaceans, and finfish. Philippines is among the top mariculture-producing — algae, shrimp, milkfish — countries in the world.
“This will encourage investors to engage in fish culture because it has a credit assistance component. On the technical side, the BFAR will assist, and on the financial, it will be through the LBP,” Basaya said.
He said investors can venture into culturing milkfish (bangus) and grouper (loba, lapu-lapu) via the use of modular fish cages in the mariculture parks.
Depending on the agreement, the LBP may require collaterals from borrowers, such as forfeiture of the fish cages if he/she fails to pay the amortizations.
He said that earlier this month, a one-on-one consultation with prospective investors was done by the LBP.
Basaya explained that a fish cage with a size of 10 x 10 x 5 meter can be stocked with around 15,000 fingerlings which is equivalent to three to four hectares of fishponds inland.
Bangus and lapu-lapu culture is a profitable venture and can be harvested after four months. But if an investor has four or more fish cages, they can do the monthly rotational harvest.
Basaya added that investors may also fabricate smaller fish cages like 5x5x4 meters, and for this, the LBP can release loans amounting to PHP700,000.
A fully grown bangus, he said, can fetch PHP160-PHP180 as gate price and is sold at the market for more than PHP200 per kilo. Lapu-lapu, on the other hand, is PHP300 per kilo while live lapu-lapu is PHP100 per 100 grams or PHP1,000 per kilo.
The BFAR can assist a prospective investor in the design of the fish cages, as well as the formulation of the program of work (POW).
The amount that will be released by LBP is based on the POW. Their office can assist in other technical aspects of the project. For the project site selection, an investor needs to approach the local agriculture office to submit the application and other documentation requirements. (PNA)
