The Department of Agriculture (DA) led the inauguration of the Philippines’ first Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) Shrimp Hatchery and Broodstock Development Center in Barangay Labasan, Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro.
The PHP 24 million (USD 475,900) shrimp hatchery was funded under the Republic Act No. 11494 or Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II) and is a component of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR’s) National ‘Hipon Iangat ang Produksyon’ (HIPON) Program and will focus on the medium-scale production of Penaeus vannamei shrimp with a target of 50 million fry per year.
The hatchery’s first phase implementation covers the Fry Production Facility, while its target expansion or second phase will cover the Grow-out and Broodstock Development Facility.
The facility, which includes a laboratory, natural food tank, larval rearing tank, powerhouse/pump house, water reservoir, and covered work area, will provide registered shrimp farmers and 197 BFAR-registered shrimp farms in the region to have a year-round supply of fry.
The new hatchery will promote the use of aquaculture areas particularly brackishwater and provide additional employment in the fishery sector.
To date, there are about 25,865 registered fisherfolk in Oriental Mindoro and the province has brackishwater fishpond area of 3,108 hectares.
(Sources: Department of Agriculture; Business World)
