Alcala to open P13.8-M aqua projects in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Jan. 16 (PIA) -- Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala will launch tomorrow three aquaculture projects of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – Inland Sea Ranching Project (BFAR-ISRP).

These projects, valued at Ph13.8 million, are expected to enhance aquaculture enterprise in the city and the province. These projects are: Fry to Fingerlings Fish Pond Development, Palawan Seaweed Tissue Culture Laboratory, and the Expansion of Multi-Species Hatchery Project which are all located at the ISRP project site in Sta. Lucia Environmental Estate.

The Ph5 million-Fry to Fingerlings Fish Pond Development project boasts of a four-hectare production area which will produce good quality fingerlings of groupers, snapper, milkfish and sea bass. This nursery project will sustain the fry and fingerling needs of the many mariculture projects in the province.

Also situated in the BFAR complex is the Ph3.8 million-Palawan Seaweed Tissue Culture Laboratory project which will produce seaweed tissue to address productivity declines by rehabilitating planting materials in laboratories through branch and spore cultures and micro-propagation.

The production of the Ph5-million Expansion of Multi-Species Hatchery project will provide the requirements for fingerlings of the fish cages in Palawan.

This BFAR project is a public-private partnership between the city government, which provided the land, and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) which provided technical assistance and design of the hatchery complex. (DOS/VSM/PIA-Palawan)