P30-M fish hatchery to rise in Ligao City

By Mar S. Arguelles

A multi-species hatchery facility will rise in an upland village in Ligao City that can spur fish production and significantly contribute to the aquaculture industry in Albay province and the rest of the Bicol region.

Albay 3rd District Rep. Fernando Cabredo said that in partnership with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the city government of Ligao, the P30-million fish hatchery facility will be built-in Barangay Maonon.

The facility will be located in a 5,000 square meter lot donated by the city government, where according to Cabredo, construction works will start in August and is expected to be completed in December this year.

Nelson Bien, BFAR Bicol regional director, on June 30 presented the project site development plan to Cabredo and Ligao Mayor Patricia Gonzalez-Alsua.

Bien said the facility can raise multi-fish species such as milkfish, mangrove crabs, saline tilapia, and jumbo tiger shrimp.

Cabredo said he is hopeful that the hatchery production project would significantly contribute to the increasing demand for the seafoods in Albay and in the entire region.

Cabredo, citing the BFAR feasibility study, said the hatchery will not only benefit the people and fisherfolks in Albay, but also those from Bicol and other provinces in Luzon.

“This is considered to be a big leap in the aquaculture industry and opens opportunities for economic growth,” he said.

Citing BFAR statistics, Cabredo said milkfish, for instance, has the highest demand for 25 million fingerlings in the whole province, “Now with the breeding and hatchery of milkfish in Ligao, it is assumed to produce 4.8 million, which is 19 percent of the total demand for milkfish in Albay,” he said.

BFAR statistics indicates that Bicol regions supply and demand requirements for the major marine commodities for: Saline Tilapia was 47.9 million fingerlings; Milkfish fry 184 million, Mangrove Crablets, 36.3 million and the Giant Tiger shrimp, 69.5 million fries.

The Ligao hatchery project once fully operational could produce: 5.4-million Saline Tilapia fingerlings; 4.8-million Milkfish fingerlings; 960,000-Mangrove Crabs; and 32-million fries of Giant Tiger shrimps.

The BFAR hatchery project is in line with RA No. 10950 principally authored by former Congressman Fernando V. Gonzalez. The law establishes a multi-species marine hatchery in the City of Ligao.