JDV: Upgrade aquaculture to industrial level
ASEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
LINGAYEN—The urgency to upgrade aquaculture activities in the country to industrial level in the face of new challenges posed by the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) integration was echoed by former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
In a speech read for him by Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center (NIFTDC) during the opening Tuesday of the 1st National Fishery Producers’ Congress here, De Venecia said the Philippines can expand the production of milkfish, pompano, seabass, siganid, grouper, sea cucumber, saline tilapia, oysters, mussels and other shellfishes to stay on track.
Mr. De Venecia was in China for a conference.
Today, the Philippines is fourth in terms of aquaculture behind its neighbors Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam
Mr. De Venecia stressed the need to improve the production of white shrimp and pangasius in order “to do away with importation” even as he urged that efforts be made to develop new markets while more investors and the government are educated on the need to be self-sufficient on bangus fry and seed stocks of various fish species still being sourced out by the country from Indonesia.
He recommended the promotion of sustainable technologies to minimize negative impacts of aquaculture and the need to increase research and development activities in aquaculture and utilize existing BFAR facilities to effectively produce fingerlings at the optimum level.
The Philippines prior to ASEAN integration already lags behind Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam in aquaculture, Mr. De Venecia warned.
Thailand is today’s biggest producer of shrimps and shellfishes in the world. The Philippines imports bangus fry from Indonesia, and pangasius from Vietnam
Rosario hailed the former House speaker as “a person who truly loves aquaculture” having influenced the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to lift the ban on the culture of p. vannamei (white shrimps) in the Philippines in the early 2000 and also helped establish the Asian Fisheries Academy and the Seafood Processing Plant, both located in Bonuan, Dagupan City. (Leonardo Micua)
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