Fish Farmers Want Govt to Tackle Feeds and Fry Issues

Fish farmers are appealing to the government to enact more measures to tackle fry and feed problems that still affect aquaculture.

According to fish farm groups, the productivity of fish farms nationwide is on a continuing decline because of the need for quality feeds and sufficient fingerlings.

“Due to the low quality of feeds, Filipino favorites like bangus and tilapia that are grown in fish farms now need more feeds to grow to marketable sizes,”  said Asis Perez, the convenor of Tugon Kabuhayan.

Fish farm industry leaders have put forward a brood stock project as a means of lowering the cost of fish farming.

Mr. David Villaluz, Chairman of the Philippine Association of Fish Producers Inc. stated that “We need a central hatchery to provide adequate fry to our growers. This way we can stop our dependence on Indonesia. We are not getting consistent fry quality from them. It can range from Class A to Class C fry, depending on the seller,”

“This is also where Indonesia got that idea because of SEAFDEC here. But they were able to implement ahead of us,”  he adds.

The sector is likewise awaiting the 100% implementation of the Bureau of Animal Industry’s (BAI) memorandum circular that was released just recently.

This memo by BAI covers the full regulation of the importation of processed animal proteins (PAP) specifically for the aquaculture industry to solve problems of lack of available quality fields.

This move was fully supported by the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (NFARMC) and likewise endorsed by the BFAR regional directors.

Source: Philstar