Sea cucumber hatchery opens in city by March
FIRST IN THE PHILIPPINES
A sea cucumber hatchery, the first in the Philippines, will start operating in March at the 24-hectare Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) center in Dagupan City.
Dr. Westly Rosario, interim executive director of the National Fisheries and Research Development Institute (NFRDI) and BFAR center chief in Bonuan Binloc, said the main objective of this project is to train people on sea ranching and res-ponsible extraction or harvesting from the wild.
Sea cucumber, one of the country’s top ten fishery exports, is a high-value product fetching up to $1,000 per kilogram in the international market, particularly China and Singapore.
Dried sea cucumber, specifically the Holothuria scabra, abounds in the western coastal towns of Bolinao, Alaminos City and Anda.
Rosario, in an interview with The PUNCH, said there are now 50 breeders from Anda that have been brought for “conditioning” in Baquioen Bay in Sual. These, plus another 50 from Bolinao, will be transported to the hatchery once it starts operations next month.
Rosario said the high-value species sea cucumber have been exploited in the wild, resulting in the reduction of harvestable size from six inches to three inches.
Indiscriminate harvesting has also decreased dried sea cucumbers produce from 3,500 tons in 1983 to 1,000 tons since the late 1990s.
The hatchery, with 10 big tanks for spawning, larval, nursery and other laboratory sections built on a 1,000 square-meter, will be used to teach and help fisher folk on restocking juveniles.
The hatchery is a joint project of the NFRDI and with counterpart funding with the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research-World Fish Center. The University of the Philippine Marine Science Institute and the University of the Philippines in Mindanao are also providing assistance.
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