By Gail Momblan/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — Researchers and scientists from 20 countries all over the world underscore the need for discussions to address the ongoing challenges in the field of fisheries and aquaculture.
Delegates from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, among others, were able to share new ideas and studies as they gathered for the 12th Asian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum (AFAF) at the Iloilo Convention Center in this city’s Mandurriao district on Tuesday.
Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer, Vice President of the Asian Fisheries Society, said the field of fisheries and aquaculture is confronted with continuing problems such as climate change, growing population, and low income of fish farmers, among others.
“Those are some of the challenges that people should be discussing about. Discussions help us come up with solutions on how we can respond to these challenges,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.
She noted that the community should be resilient in combatting the challenges.
Ferrer added that challenges in fisheries and aquaculture vary from time to time and thus “we need to adopt”.
Researches, as information gathering tool, are therefore important to contribute to the policy-making and decision-making of mankind, she said.
“Overfishing, illegal fishing, depletion of marine resources are problems that we cannot immediately give solution to. It is because these problems have deep root cause. We must learn how to adopt,” she said.
“I know that the government is doing its best to manage our resources. I know they are doing their best to meet these challenges (in fisheries),” she added.
She also addressed the public to “listen to new information” for them to be equipped with knowledge on the conservation and management of natural resources.
Fish is a staple food of Filipinos, she said, and thus it is important to have sustainable marine and aquaculture resources in the Philippines.
“We always aim to have sustainable resource of fish which can help promote the nutrition of human,” she said, as the forum’s theme revolves on “Transforming Asian fisheries and aquaculture for sustainable production and nutrition.”
The 12th AFAF which will run until Thursday, is hosted by the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) and the University of the Philippine Visayas Foundation, Inc.
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