CEBU CITY – The Maribojoc Coastal Barangay Law Enforcers, an association of fishermen from Bohol province, has recorded a PHP117,000 profit from its harvested bangus (milkfish), thanks to a project granted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 (Central Visayas).
The group harvested 936 kg. of bangus from its fish cage installed off the shores of Barangay Poblacion, Maribojoc town.
The fishermen sold their harvest at an affordable market price of PHP120 to PHP130 per kg.
The association’s members have been recording good earnings from the marine floating fish cage project that was granted to them in 2019 under the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program of BFAR-7.
Part of the fish cage project, which cost more than PHP210,000, were the 5,500 milkfish fingerlings and the 120 bags of fish feeds allotted for the first cropping.
Candido Samijon, BFAR-7’s Bohol provincial fishery officer, in a statement on Saturday said this livelihood assistance is bearing favorable results.
The 28-member association now has two fish cages. The first one was a SAAD-aided project funded in 2019 while the other, under the same program, was granted the following year.
The offshore fish cages have served as livelihood intervention projects to the association, which was tagged as among the marginalized fisherfolk group in the Bohol town.
The local government unit of Maribojoc has picked the group as among the notable beneficiaries because aside from its poverty status, its members have shared a noble cause in protecting and conserving the marine resources.
“From utilizing the traditional means in fishing, the association has been afforded with modern fishing technologies, such as the floating-designed fish cage that may boost their productivity and income,” Samijon said.
Back in 2019, the association posted a PHP222,600 profit from two separate harvests.
The first harvest that year yielded 905 kg. of bangus and a PHP108,600 revenue.
The second time, the association harvested 950 kg. of bangus, recording PHP114,000 in sales.
BFAR-7 also oriented and trained the association on how to operate, manage, and sustain the fish cage project.
For the third year of the project implementation this 2021, BFAR-7 aims to guide the association in coming up with a fishery enterprise that has yet to be discussed with the group.
The SAAD program follows a three-year developing scheme wherein the project provided to the association progresses into an enterprise or business that will eventually be managed independently.
Despite the pandemic, its adverse economic effects have failed to cripple the operation of the project that also helps augment food security measures in the province. (PNA)
