Eleven local bills for the establishment of multi-species marine hatcheries in various locations nationwide are passed into law

During the 18th Congress, eleven local bills sponsored by Senator Cynthia Villar that called for the construction of multi-species marine hatcheries in various places across the nation were signed into law.

Due to the high incidence of agriculture poverty in the fishing industry, Villar, the head of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, has campaigned for these measures to be passed into law.

“The productivity of our marine fisheries resources has been declining because of environmental degradation and ineffective natural resources management,” stressed Villar.

According to Villar, the population’s ability to obtain enough food and earn a living has been threatened by the country’s huge decline in fish catches.

Additionally, the nation’s fisheries industry earns foreign cash, supports over one million Filipinos with a means of subsistence, and serves as a cheap supply of animal protein for the people.

“With the growing population of the Philippines, fishing is one of the major industries seen as a positive contributor to the developing economy,” related Villar.

“Thus the need for hatcheries be established in our country which provide the seed for aquaculture and some commercial fisheries,” she added.

“A hatchery is where fish and shellfish are spawned, hatched and cared for. They remain at the hatchery until they are large enough to be transferred to a fish or shellfish farm or released into the wild as part of a stock enhancement program,” explained the senator.

Commercial, aquaculture, and shellfish farms in the fishing industry all require a continuous, predictable source of young fish from hatcheries in order to maintain operations and deliver a consistent product.

The mangrove crab or “Alimango” farming sector engages in the trading of a valuable resource with a market worth of $5.2 billion and a great demand on the global market. They also require a consistent supply of crackers.

According to BFAR, registered bangus hatcheries in the nation produced 860.75 million fries in 2019, while 19.5 million were harvested from the wild. Only 24% of the overall yearly fry requirement is met by this.

Bangus fish farmers must import fry as compensation to maintain annual production.

“The BFAR also said tilapia fry and fingerling production was 208.35 million in 2020 while the annual demand is 2.1 billion tilapia fingerlings,” further stated the senator.