Agriculture Business Week

For a sustainable production of marine fish and other products from the sea, more mariculture parks and zones should be established where ever these are feasible. Just like the Panabo Mariculture Park in Davao Gulf and the Mariculture Zone in Basey, Samar.

The concept will rationalize the use of marine resources, according to BFAR Assistant Director Gil Adora, so that marine production would be more sustainable.

Under the scheme, the government regulates the number and sizes of cages and other structures used in the culture of the recommended species. This way, stocking densities can be regulated based on the capacity of the area.

Adora stresses that without mariculture parks and zones, mariculture operators, responding to market forces alone will tend to establish mariculture structures without regard for the overall sustainability of their industry.

He explains that the scheme follows the industrial estate concept. Investors only have to pay annual lease which could be less than the cost of acquiring and developing raw areas for.their needs. The local government units, fisherfolk organizations, government agencies and NGOs also participate. Focused on the fisherfolk, the approach is holistic. All concerns are addressed to include infrastructure, capability building, production, marketing and other ancillary industries, says Adora.

The concept of mariculture parks and zones is very timely because yield from capture fisheries is unpredictable and widely accepted to have reached a point of declining productivity, explains Adora. He adds that it will help solve problems of overfishing, destructive fishing, pollution and loss of marine habitat.

BFAR’s mariculture zone development follows a pro-environment outlook which also provides a valuable tool for coastal resources management.

The project promotes sea farming as a major livelihood of coastal fishermen, and it will accelerate socio-economic growth and food security. It will also provide appropriate structure, equipment and support services to operate cost-effectively, according to Adora.